Beastly Tendencies
by Toran of Raysed
Summary: Raveast, Starob, Cy...someone. The Beast has returned in full force, to BB's mind, but this time,he tries to tame it, bring it to heel. Can he deal with this inner demon, while dealing with a halfdemonic attraction? M for many things, so be careful.
1. Chapter 1: Dreams

v

Okay, this is Toran with my second BBRae, and this time it ain't no one shot.

Enjoy and **REVIEW!!!**

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Chapter 1-Dreams

Tearing, rending, shredding ripping, killing. The vicious claws that moved up and down steadily looked like they could do everyone, at the same time. Warm red liquid steamed from the claws, and dripped from the tips in a steady staccato beat. They were serrated, tearing made easier, killing made quicker, and the shining blood almost exaggerated the jagged edge. The massive beast breathed heavily, as if fresh off the hunt and stared down at the man with shrunken slits of pupils. A thick cloud of mist rose from its muzzle with each breath, making it look even more vicious.

It really was huge, hulking over the man by at least three feet, and staring down at him like you would a chicken entrée. The man stumbled back, away from the creature, wanting to be as far away as possible from it. But before he managed to get very far, the beast let out a bloodcurdling roar, and its muscles unleashed, sending it lunging at the man. Thos vicious killing claws extended toward him, seeking his life water.

Thinking quickly, the man rolled to the side, removing him from the beast's path, narrowly escaping death. Deciding that it would not be best to wait until the beast was able to recover the man quickly took off at a run, his feet pounding on the insubstantial ground beneath him. His breath was harsh and ragged, tearing painfully at his chest and throat with each breath.

He could hear the beast behind him easily enough, its massive paws pounding heavily against the ground behind him. The thing was cocky, not even attempting to use stealth.

And then, suddenly, the sound of footfalls behind him stopped, and when he glanced behind, the beast was no where to be seen. Thinking that maybe the beast had stopped its pursuit, he slowed down and finally brought himself to a stop, sighing happily. A heavy smash sounded behind, and he spun around to see that the beast was standing there, in the middle of a crater, dust and debris settling to the ground. Maybe, the beast hadn't given up quite yet.

The beast took less than a second to recover from the jump, lunging almost immediately at that man for a second time. He didn't have time to get out of the way, and the small sidestep that he took did nothing. The creature swiped its paw to the side in passing, cutting deeply into his side, and sending him tumbling across the ground painfully. His side burned, and the area around was warm and wet. He stuck his hand in the area of the wound, and I came away dripping warm blood.

Vainly, he tried to push himself to his feet, but only managed to stumble and fall once more to the floor. The beast recovered from its lunge quickly, and was now standing, those feral eyes staring at him hungrily. Its pace was slow and leisurely, taking its good time. The beast knew that the man was down for the count, and didn't feel like exerting himself anymore than necessary, and the roar that had once churned the man's guts was now a low contented purr.

The man tried desperately to get away from the hulking creature, dragging and kicking weakly in a pained crawl across the ground. The beast continued forward, not increasing his pace, the man's crawl did not bother it. It drew ever closer, those eyes still staring hungrily, preparing for its meal. Hot tears fell down the man's cheeks, burning his eyes he didn't want to die, not like this, not now, not ever.

Finally, the creature stood over its prey, its low rumbling purr now seeming to be a mirthful laugh. Hot steam still rose from its muzzle with each breath, and the feral slits of eyes still shone with a fervent light. Those claws now seemed sharper than ever, stretching out, and extending to their full length. The man's eyes widened further, and the tears streamed down his cheeks faster and faster. One paw gripped the man around the throat, and lifted him to the beast's eye level. The other arm went back behind the beast back, the claws straightened out, the man screamed, and the claws plunged forward.

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The scream continued to echo around the dark room as Garfield Logan came out of sleep with a jolt and a scream. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room, and glanced around nervously, searching for the Beast, thinking the dream, or rather, nightmare, had been real. His body was slicked in a cold sweat, and his breath was short and ragged, his chest heaving with each breath.

The blankets on his bed had been torn to shreds by his claws as he tossed and turned in his troubled slumber. Sighing he gathered the blankets and navigated his way through his debris littered room, the door sliding open with a quiet hiss. As he walked through the door he glanced back at his clock, 5:00. He sighed, this way too early to be up.

He threw his blankets into the incinerator in passing and made his way to the bathroom. The sweat covering his body made him feel disgusting. He really needed to take shower, not mention empty his swelled bladder. After that, he thought that he might go grab some food because there was no way in hell he was getting back to sleep.

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Little did the green changeling know, but someone else had been awake when he woke up with a scream. A hooded empathy was meditating on the Tower roof when the man's scream echoed up through the ventilation shaft. She opened her eyes slowly as the scream cut off the latest recitation of her mantra. Her senses stretched out over the Tower, trying to find anyone that might have been awake. As they stretched over the entire expanse of the "T" shaped superstructure, they snagged on the awakened state of the changeling's senses, "Gar?"

She struggled with herself for a few minutes, deciding whether or not to go down and check on him. Finally, she decided that she would go down, but only because he interrupted her meditation. She didn't think of the fact that this was the fourth time this week that his screams had interrupted her. This morning, she decided to confront him, his emotions had been helter skelter, and it needed to be fixed.

She descended from her floating lotus position, and her feet touched down softly on the concrete of the roof. She walked down the stairs, and rounded the corner to the living quarters just in time to see a green back head into Gar's room. Sighing she leaned against the wall and waited for the changeling to emerge once more. It took slightly over five minutes for him to emerge, and when he did, he walked right out and headed for the kitchen, completely missing her presence

She sighed again, and walked up behind him. His ears jerked up, and he twisted around to defend himself from whatever threat might be behind him. Gar jumped when he noticed that it was not threat, at least not yet. He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Geez Rae, you hafta sneak up on me like that?"

Her lips twisted in a small smile as she answered, "No, not really, but it's more fun this way."

Gar laughed quietly at her quip, not wanting to wake the other Titans, his chuckle was deep rumble, coming from somewhere in his chest. A chill shot up Raven's spine at the sound, and a blush crept on to her cheeks, embarrassed at how easily he affected her. But slowly, she felt her eyes being drawn to him, taking in his form. He had gone without a shirt in the early morning, showing off pleasantly muscled torso and arms. His face had lost his baby fat, and was angular, his emerald eyes sharp and shining. His once short and boyish hair had grown out and now fell playfully into his eyes, sometimes hiding the green orbs. And he was really tall. As soon as the changeling hit eighteen, he had shot up, coming to just one inch under Victor at 6'3". Much to her chagrin, she had stopped growing at a miniscule 5'5".

And as her eyes raked over him, he watched her in turn. She had matured over the years, her body coming to its full womanly form, curves and all. His eyes traveled lazily down her body, taking in her beautiful violet eyes and hair, and the tank top and sweatpants she had decided to wear for pajamas clinging to her form. He smirked; she really was beautiful, even if she didn't know it.

While they both failed to notice the other's eyes, a silence stretched between the two, until they reached the kitchen where upon the silence was quickly broken by Raven's voice, "Changeling, why exactly are you up so early, you usually aren't until noon?"

"Rae, we're at home, my name's Gar," he said with a smile as fished through the fridge in search for sustenance.

"Raven, not Rae, and you didn't answer my question," she said with a slight glare in the green mans direction.

"Look Raven, I just got up 'cuz I was really hungry and needed something to eat, that okay with you?" he asked slightly annoyed.

"No, you're lying," she stated.

"You know what Raven? Maybe, maybe I don't really want to talk about, 'kay, even you should be able to understand something like that." His voice was filled with venom.

She backed away, hurt by his words, and scared by his ferocity. He saw the hurt look on her face and immediately raised his hands in apology, "Look, I'm sorry Rae, didn't mean to explode like that, I just don't wanna talk about it."

Raven smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Gar, you may not want to talk about it now, but you will, and when you do, I'll be there. And my name's not Rae."

"Yeah yeah, 'It's Raven', and thanks."

She smiled again, this day was getting better and better, "No problem."

He began opening more cupboards, and fishing through them, in search for his early morning feed. Finally he yelled " Eureka!" and whipped out a rectangular yellow box, waving it in the air and showing it to Raven. He sat down in a counter stool and opened the box, happily munching on his discovery, casually; he offered the box to Raven, "Want some crackers?"

"Sure, why not."

The two talked and ate crackers for what seemed to be only a few moments, but in reality stretched over two hours. Raven was shocked and surprised that she could actually converse with Gar in such a mature manner. They talked about many things she thought he must be ignorant about. They talked about philosophy and belief, whether there was or was not a god as the Christians believed, and sciences of many varieties. His discussion especially excelled in the subjects of zoology, and other sciences related to animal life.

The other Titans began waking up, beginning with a man in his mid-twenties, his long black hair splayed over his face, and sticking up at strange angles. He looked up and listened to the two voices drifting down the hallway and through his door, "What the hell is that?" The question was directed at no one in particular, but he got an answer anyway.

The exotic beauty laying next to him rose from her resting position and slung an arm over his chest, pulling back down to the mattress, "It does not matter, all that matters right now is you, and me."

Ice blue eyes shone with his smile as he gazed at his red-haired beauty, "You're amazing."

"I know."

He laughed huskily as his lips dove for hers, and so much more.

Somewhere else in the Tower, a half-robotic sentient was slowly whirring to wakefulness, the machinery behind him humming to life. Sighing and stretching, his joints creaked, and a jolt coursed through his system. Carefully, he unlatched the cord attaching him to the machinery, and moved to a table only a few feet away. Victor picked up a small canister of oil, and began to drip some into each of his creaky joints. If you were going to go every day with robotic joints, you might as well make sure they worked properly.

Stretching out once more, he stepped to his door and out into the hallway, not very far considering his room was like a large closet. Being half robot had its perks. The muffled words of conversation floated down from the kitchen, and there was something else with them. He found out what that something was as he passed Dick and Kori's room, his eyes widened in shock, and his pace quickened.

Just as he was passing the room, and the noises he hoped never to hear coming from a room he wasn't in, the loud alarm and lights began ringing and flashing, the red lights bathing the Tower in odd colors. Two flustered teammates still in a state of undress rushed past him to their rooms, and a word floated over the noise in a very feminine sounding voice, "Shit!"

Cyborg just laughed and walked toward the main computer, daily routine would never change, but hopefully, some things would.

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Well there it is, chap 1. I hope y'all enjoyed it, I know I did.

!REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2: Down by the Seaside

Chapta 2 is teh here, enjoy it, and review it.

OR I'LL KILL YOU REAL DEAD!

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Chapter 2: Down by the Seaside

The front doors of the Tower slid open with a hiss, and the small entrance room was instantly smothered in the smell of BO. A masked man walked in tiredly, followed by a slumped over green changeling. An orange-skinned alien, and an empath followed after, their faces twisted in obvious disgust of the smell. The green man wiped his forehead, flicking flecks of sweat from his brow, and let out a sigh, "Whew, who knew the Hive Five would still be functional; I'll never underestimate those morons again."

Raven shook her head, "You just did." 

"What? What are you talking about Rae?"

She shook her head with a small grin at his ignorance, "First off, my name's not Rae. And secondly, just by calling them morons, you underestimate them. They very well may not be the smartest group of villains, but they sure as heel aren't the stupidest, especially with Gizmo there."

"Oh…sorry Rae."

A burst of black energy knocked Changeling off his feet and flat on his face. He looked up as Raven passed by, groaning his apology through gritted teeth, "I mean…sorry Raven."

The empathy nodded, and floated upward into a hole of black energy in the ceiling that would take her up the ten or so floors to the main room with out physical stress. Changeling looked around to see that everyone else had left, and looked at the door that was marked with the picture of a staircase. He sighed as he shuffled over to the door, "Man, we totally need to get a friggin' elevator, even an escalator would be nice, but no Mr. Health Freak Grayson needs to have stupid friggin' stairs." The green man's tirade continued as he walked up the stairs, his feet dragging each step.

The door in the common room slid open, and Garfield slumped in, immediately taking off for his room to take a shower. His tired feet shuffled and scuffed all the way down the hall, until finally he reached one of the many bathrooms that the superheroes used, but this one, was his, or at least the one he always used. The walls were even painted various greens, and all of his toiletries were contained inside. His feet dragged a bit more so that he could turn on the water, as soon as steady stream was spraying from the shower head, he undressed and stepped in. His body went rigid and he shook, "Just fuckin' great, no hot water."

A green hand shot out from the shower curtains and scrambled on a counter for a forgotten bar of soap. The hand closed around the white oval, and shot back into the cleansing area. A deep chuckle was heard from behind the shower curtain as Garfield made a joke to himself, "Ha…don't drop the soap." Seconds later a small clunk was heard and the deep voice was heard again, "Shit! Get back here you slippery little devil." The monologue was followed by various thumps and bumps, "Yes! Victory! Fuck, no, get back here!"

Minutes later, Garfield emerged from the bathroom, and headed off in the direction of his room. His wet hair fell easily into his eyes, and he flicked his head to get out of the way, but a little damp still clung to the thin layer of fur that coated his body. Raven passed by going the opposite way, and her hooded eyes raked over his well muscled body, but she mentally shook herself back to normality as he passed with a wave. She only smiled and threw a remark as she passed, "Drop the soap?"

The changeling's cheeks flushed a dark color, and his pace quickened just a little, determined to reach his room. He entered his room and came out a minute later dressed in a pair of loose khaki shorts, accompanied by white shirt with a stylized blue flame in the middle. He stretched, and made his way to the common room, smiling at his refreshed state. The doors slid open automatically as he approached, and he entered talking, "So, what we got planned for today, training, laziness, or a day on the town?"

Dick looked up from the meat stuffed sandwich, and swallowed the food that was in his mouth, "Actually, I was thinking we could take a day off at the beach, you know, take a day off to relax. I think we could all use it."

Garfield snickered, and leaned up to Victor, whispering in his ear, "Yeah right. He just wants to see Kori in that bikini she said she bought."

Victor laughed, spraying some of the food out of his mouth in a mist, dirtying the counter, and earning a skeptical look from the team leader. "So, you guys wanna go, or not?" his question was directed at them as if he had heard every word Gar had said, and it wouldn't have been surprising if he had.

They both nodded, and Dick stood up smiling, "Great! Off to the beach it is! I'm gonna go tell Kori, Vic or Gar, one of you go tell Raven." Victor immediately sat down and shouted "Not it!" as he picked up his massive sub again. Gar just shook his head and moved toward the door.

"And here I was thinking that we'd all grown up a bit."

Victors resounding, "Nope!" followed him through the door and down the hallway.

Gar reached the empath's door, and stood outside pondering what approach he should take. Finally he decided on the false need approach. He knocked on the door and spoke, "Rae, I really need to talk to you, you think you can come out for a sec."

Raven on the other side of the door sitting in a chair looked up at the knock and heard the changeling's voice drift through the metal. Sighing, she placed her book on the chair, marking her page with a slip of paper. She opened the door and saw a desperate looking Garfield standing in the hallway. "What is it?" the question came out a bit more coldly than she had wanted it to, but it seemed to have no effect.

Gar reached out and snatched her by the arm, dragging her off down the hall. She tumbled along, and asked him, "Gar, what the hell are you doing?"

The changeling smiled and answered, "Well, I'm taking you to the common room so we can meet the others, and then we can go off to the beach. You see, I knew that if I told you the plan originally, you wouldn't have even come out of your room, but this way, I've already got you halfway there."

Some things didn't change, Raven was still mostly a loner, though she had gotten used to being able to show her emotions a little. One thing that had changed about her though, was that she was no longer as stubborn as a mule, especially when the battle was against a certain someone that had probably been a mule at one point or another. She didn't even really put up a fight this time, she kind of actually wanted to go to the beach, and the changeling found it incredibly easy to drag her down to the common room where they were gathering.

Dick smiled as the two entered, wearing pair of black trunks and a dark blue jacket with no undershirt. His dark shades hid brilliant blue eyes that were now visible around the Tower more often than not. Victor was just finishing up putting a water proofing solution on his mechanical parts, and Kori was standing unembarrassed in an almost scandalously small bikini. No one else could see it, but Gar's animalistic sight caught the silhouettes of Dick's eyes frequently darting to her rear.

Gar smiled and jolted his head in the direction of the door, "So, are we gonna get this show on the road or what?"

Dick smiled and picked up a beach bag on the floor at his feet, "Titans, go!"

All five laughed at this, even if Raven's only was a small snicker. The five headed to the garage and piled into the T-car, tearing out of the garage, and traveling off to beach less rocky and one more sandy.

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The beach, in short, was amazing. The sun was out, shining down on the sand, causing the powdered rock to glisten. A cool breeze came off the waters, so it never became too hot on the beach. Tons of people were there, and even more were coming to see the attractions, or in other words, the Titans.

Just being there caused the Titans to draw a big crowd. Nightwing kept his heavy sunglasses on the entire time so as to protect his identity, but everyone else didn't have much of hidden identities, and were out in full beach gear. Changeling wore a pair of black, green striped trunks, and was going shirtless. Cyborg was, as usual, going without clothes, seeing as how he was almost completely robotic. And Raven was wearing a two piece that looked almost identical to her leotard, minus the midsection, sleeves and all.

Changeling had taken the liberty of mocking it on more than one occasion while they were at the beach, but his last comment had cut off by a black burst of energy that sent him face first into the sand. He had coughed and spluttered, spitting disgustedly, trying to get the grit and sand out of his mouth, while Raven went back to her book and towel, a content grin playing on her lips.

Now, the guys and Star had joined a volleyball game, and it was in full swing. Changeling and Cyborg joining one team, while Nightwing and Starfire joined the other, Raven of course, sat on the sidelines and watched, reading her book. The game was beginning to get competitive, and powers and superhuman abilities were being brought into play. Raven was so drawn into her book that she did not notice an exhausted Starfire plop down beside her.

Starfire watched her friend for a few minutes, noticing how occasionally her deep violet eyes would glance up and settle on a certain changeling in front of her. Starfire smiled, and spoke up as Raven looked up again, "Hello friend Raven." 

Raven's head whipped toward where Starfire was sitting, eyes tearing away from Changeling, and her face flushing crimson, "Oh, hey Star, why aren't you playing anymore."

"Friend Raven, I have not been playing for the past fifteen minutes, did you not notice?" Starfire's tone was innocent, but Raven could catch the knowledge behind her grin.

Raven shook her head slowly, "No, sorry, I must have just been so absorbed in my book; I probably was just not paying attention to the game."

Starfire nodded, "Oh, of course you were not paying attention to the game of volleyball, but I am very clearly sure that it was not due to your reading, but looking at something else."

Raven flushed red, and her eyes shot down to her book, burying herself in the pages, "So what if I was?" Her voice was barely audible, and Starfire had to have her repeat herself twice before she understood what had been said. And when she understood, she fell silent, trying to think of how she should word her next question. Finally, she decided to go with a head-on blunt approach, it always seemed to go easier when you did it that way.

She took a deep breath, trying to Raven's attention, but the empath stayed buried in her book. Starfire sighed, and asked her question regardless, "Raven, do you like friend Changeling?"

Raven looked at her oddly, "Of course I like him, it would be really hard to live in the Tower if I couldn't stand him."

"No," Starfire said, shaking her head at the intelligent girls' ignorance, "I mean do you have the smash on Changeling."

Raven said the aliens words over and over again, but could discern no meaning, "Star, what'd you mean do I have a smash on Changeling," and then it dawned on her. "Oh, you mean a crush…" her face flushed red, and she was at a loss for words. Starfire watched her friend expectantly, waiting for an answer eagerly. Finally when it came, she was disappointed. Raven composed herself, and the red faded from her cheeks, "No, no I do not have a crush on Gar, at least, I hope I don't"

Starfire shook her head sadly, and got back up to rejoin the volleyball game, but was told that they had enough people. She too sat on the sidelines, though the opposite side of Raven, and watched the game from a sitting position. Raven glanced up occasionally, and shook herself every time she found her eyes drawn to her green teammate. She pulled her gaze away, though he did have great muscles, and he was really cute, she shook her head, shaking the thoughts from her head. Her eyes went up again, to see Starfire on the other side, a smile splitting her face.

Raven's head went back down to the words of her book, _I don't have a crush on Gar, I can't have a crush on Gar, I won't have a crush on Gar…I have a crush on Gar." _Her face flushed a deep red again, and her eyes shot up to meet Starfire's emerald orbs again. The alien girl nodded knowingly, and Raven for not the first time wondered how someone who wasn't even from this planet could be so in tune with the feelings and emotions of its people, especially when she herself used emotions as a power, and could feel other's emotions.

She was so busy pondering this conundrum that she didn't notice the green changeling come up behind her, and lean over her shoulder to look at her book. He blew on her ear and whispered, "C'mon Rae, it's time to go." And indeed it was, for the sun was setting below the horizon, but unfortunately, Changeling would not know he was home for a little while. His actions startled the thinking Raven so much that she lashed out with her heavy tome and smashed him across the head, knocking him out cold.

She yelped in surprise, and jumped up embarrassed, quickly so as to avoid the comments of others, she formed a black portal and jumped in it so she could go back to her room. As soon as she did, the other Titans came looking for Gar who had gone off to get Raven, and found only the unconscious form of the green changeling. Figuring he must have done something that had seriously upset Raven, they gathered up his limp form, and carried him to the T-car. Their trip down by the seaside had not exactly gone perfectly, but it was pretty damn close to it.

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Hope you liked, and remember, REVIEW.

If you don't, I shove a glass bottle up your ass and down your throat, and then kick them till they break. After that, I cut open you stomach while you strapped to a table, take out you innards, and make you eat them. After you have asphyxiated on your own guts, I'll climb a top the table, and desecrate your body Cleveland Steamer style. This is all before I send your body to your parents in a box along with a card that says, "MY BAD."

REVIEW!

-ToR


	3. Chapter 3: Into thy Mind

Well,

El Queso de Malicioso, could you specify the parts that felt choppy, so I can fix 'em, thanks if you do. No bodily threats this time, just a pleasant request. _**Leave a fucking review please! **_

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Chapter 3: Into thy Mind

Rings of black surrounded his vision as the gray came into sight. Flecks and dots of the same black flashed in his vision, and his entire body felt shaky. His head felt like it was being torn in two, being destroyed by a splitting headache. He shook himself as the medical room came into full view, trying to get rid of headache rocking his thoughts. This action however, only resulted in the pain increasing tremendously.

Changeling tried to remember what had happened, and lay back down on the medical bed. The memories came flashing back, crouching down behind Raven, telling her it was time to go, and…the book she was holding speeding toward him. From that point to now seemed like a big space of nothingness. He guessed that Raven had just freaked out and walloped him with her book, but you never know, he could be wrong.

The door on the wall opposite him slid open, and his massive half-metal friend came trundling in, burdened with a tray. Victor smiled as he saw that Garfield was awake, and set the tray down, "Hey little man, finally decided to wake up?"

Gar laughed, and moved toward him, and saw that the tray had a plate of pizza on it. He spoke up, and reached for one of the pieces, "Hey, it wasn't my idea to get smashed with a book." The pizza filled his mouth, and he stopped talking as the delicious food took over his thoughts. He swallowed the piece, and spoke up again, "How long was I out for?"

Victor looked at the clock on the wall, "Just about an hour, we didn't know how soon you'd be awake, so we ordered a pizza, and brought you some. Raven still won't come out of her room; I think she's pretty embarrassed about being so jumpy."

Gar nodded and looked at the half-robot, "Lemme guess, you want me to go try and get her to come out?" His question was met with a nod, and he responded, "Okay, but if she lashes out and throws a bitch fit, it's on your head."

Victor shrugged and pushed the still slightly dazed Garfield through the door, "Whatever man, just get her out of her room."

Gar trudged through the long hallways grimly; slightly afraid of what might come from his encounter with their household empath. He reached the dormitory hallway, and took the last few strides to the now foreboding door of Raven's room. He knocked on the door lightly. "What?" came the dry response from the other side of the metal door.

He gathered his breath and spoke, "Rae it's time for dinner, you should probably come out now." He sighed when no response came from inside the room, and spoke up again, "Look Rae, it's okay, I mean we all freak out sometimes, I probably shouldn't have snuck up on you like that, though you did react a little violently. I mean seriously, you jumped a little, and conked me in the head with a book, no big deal, I mean it's not like there's anything wrong with you 'cause of it."

The door slid open a crack revealing one glaring violet eye. "I know there's nothing wrong with me, and I'm not really that hungry, now if you'll excuse me." The door began to slide closed, but Gar shot out his hand and stopped the door an inch from the wall. The steel on steel was crushing his fingers, but using his animalistic strength, he slowly pushed the sliding door back.

Raven watched as the hardened muscles stood out on his arms and concentration on his face as he pushed the sliding door back into the other wall. Impressed she cocked an eyebrow and rested a hand on her hip, as if asking him what he was doing. He held up a finger as he stumbled into her room, signaling that he needed a second to catch his breath. "You haven't shut yourself up in your room for more than thirty minutes in the past year, and I'm not about to let you start again now."

She managed to suppress a grin at his caring, and spoke in the façade of the dry uncaring monotone she had, "Look Gar, I really appreciate the worry, but I need to meditate. When I jumped like that at the beach told me I had gone to long without controlling my emotions, and I should probably start soon."

Gar smiled and shrugged, "Well I tried." He started to moved toward the door but stopped, a quizzical look on his face, "Hey Rae, you use your emotions to fuel your powers right," this got him an affirmative nod, "then wouldn't you be more powerful if you actually showed emotion?" Raven was stunned and looked at Gar as he stood in her doorway for a split second before meandering out and down the hall.

Walking dazedly over to the door control, she pressed the control, but the door just hummed and clicked, not even moving. Still thinking about what her green companion had said, she barely even noticed, and walked out the door toward the kitchen

The noise from the dining area was a dull buzz as she approached the massive double sliding doors, but erupted into a high decibel roar as they opened in front of her. She stopped for a second, grabbed a piece of pizza from the counter, and headed back into the hall, maybe if she found a quiet, private place to think, she would actually be able to. So she made her through the hallways until she found the stairway that led to the roof, and opened the door. The soft tap of her boots on the stairs was almost nonexistent as she climbed them, and reached the door at the top, opening it to reveal the clear evening sky of the Tower roof.

She ate her piece of pizza as if in a trance, staring out at sea, and when it was gone, she continued staring, just thinking of what Gar had said. Hours passed as she sat in the lotus position on the edge of the Tower. A soft click sounded behind her, and she turned around to see Garfield closing the door behind him softly. He turned to see her sitting there, and spoke softly, "Oh, I didn't know you were up here, I'll just go down until you're done with…whatever you're doing."

"No, I don't mind, you can stay," she said shaking her head. Gar moved forward to sit next to her, and let his feet dangle over the edge of the Tower. Raven looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and asked, "What are you doing up here anyway Gar?"

The green changeling smiled, and leaned backward on his palms, "I've been coming out here for the past year or so, you know, watching the sun set, and the stars come out. It's just, nothing's really as perfect as the sunset, or the pinpricks of light against the sheet of the black sky."

Raven snorted amusedly, and looked at her green friend, "I never knew you were so poetic."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Gar laughed.

Raven nodded, and knew that if there was a time, this was it, "Yeah, including why you've been getting up at four in the morning for the past week and a half."

Garfield flinched visibly and looked at her, "I guess you wanna talk about that huh?"

Raven nodded, "Uhhh yeah."

"Okay," the changeling sighed. "Well, I've been having these, dreams, but they seem so real, I don't know if I'm dream walking, or if it really is just a nightmare."

Raven nodded, "And what exactly have they been about."

The changeling gulped, and took a deep breath before speaking, "Well, you remember the Beast right, the primal side of my personality?" Raven nodded, and he continued, "Well, in my dreams, I've either been the Beast, or it's been chasing me." Raven looked at him shocked.

She looked down at her crossed legs thoughtfully. This could mean any number of things, Gar was going crazy, the Beast was back, or that Gar was going through yet another cycle of change. She spoke these opinions aloud, and Gar nodded. He spoke almost as soon as she had fallen silent, "Rae, I think it might be that the Beast is back. I keep waking up feeling exhausted, and my sheets are destroyed. There are claw marks all over the place. Rae, I'm afraid that this thing is gonna take me over again, and I'm not gonna come back. Rae, I'm scared, really scared."

Raven looked at her green friend amazedly, this was the first time she had ever seen him this emotional, in a bad way. He was always happy and joking, but the only time he had ever been depressed or sad had been during the time after Terra. But this, this was different. Gar had said he was afraid, and he had really meant it, she could practically taste the fear he had tried to suppress for the past week. She tenderly placed a hand on his shoulder, "Do you um, want some help?"

Gar smiled and nodded, "Yeah, yeah I do."

Raven positioned Gar so that he was sitting cross-legged in front of her, and placed her hands on the sides of his head. Her eyes flashed white, and a black stream of energy shot from her head to his.

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"Wow, where are we?" the deep voice of a certain green changeling echoed infinitely in the black nothingness around him.

Raven appeared next to him and answered his question, "We, are in your mind."

"Oh yeah, so what exactly are we gonna try to do here?"

Raven sighed, "We're gonna try and trap the side of you that is the Beast, so the nightmares will stop, and maybe you won't have to deal with it at all."

"Sweet! Let's get to it!" The two set of through the solid nothingness, searching for any sign of the Beast. After a minute or so of wandering, their surroundings flashed with color, and they found themselves in a jungle clearing, furnished with all the most modern of necessities.

Raven looked around quizzically, "What the hell?"

Gar looked around in amazement, "No way! This is where I always imagine myself when I think. I guess it's kinda like what's inside your mirror, eh Rae?"

"First off, don't call me Rae, second off, you think?"

"Har-de-har-har Raven, you're so funny."

"I try, can't you tell."

Gar stopped off the conversation, and looked around his mindscape, noticing something about it wasn't quite right. He looked at the chairs and couches, and every other appliance and piece of furniture, and he saw that every single one was torn up and scratched, and that none of the electronics were usable. Everything was mauled and destroyed.

"What the hell happened to all of my imaginary stuff?! This isn't real, and it's mine, so why isn't it all in perfect condition?" Gar yelled angrily. Raven looked at him as if he was stupid, and sighed. Gar just glanced at her, "What?"

"Gar, it's the Beast. It's part of you, it dwells in your mind, and it effects everything here just as much as you. Obviously, it has no love for modern furnishings."

"Yeah well-…" Gar stopped what he was saying and raised his nose to the air, sniffing. A mortified look overtook his face, and he ran at Raven picking her up as he did. "Rae, don't argue, but I'm pretty sure you can't use your powers here, so I'm gonna have to carry you." Raven looked at him oddly, and tried to use her powers, only to find that Gar was indeed correct. The darkness flashed by them as Gar sprinted away from the jungle place, and she had to admit, that this was much fast than she could have ran.

"Why exactly are we running away, and why is it so urgent that you need to carry me?" Raven asked as he continued his break neck pace.

Gar breathed evenly, and spoke between breaths, "The…Beast…was…coming." Raven was going to say something, but a deadly roar from behind the two stopped her mouth in mid opening. It shook the nothingness around them, and sent a shiver of fear through her body. Involuntarily, she held on to Gar tightly as he ran.

She looked past the arm that hooked around her back and gripped her arm tightly, and saw a massive creature. The Beast had grown along with Garfield, and it was easily closing the gap between itself and its prey. She looked up at the concentrated face of Gar, and spoke to him softly, "Gar, you need to find the door. This is your mind, I have no idea the way it's oriented. Just let yourself go and think of need for the door."

He nodded, and closed his eyes, his sprint slowing to a light jog. Raven looked past Gar again, and saw that the gap was now closing even faster. She willed Gar to hurry in his search, but as the Beast drew near, a feeling of dread settled in her stomach, she could see they were going to die. The Beast lunged at the two of them, razor sharp claws extended forward, seeking the blood that pumped through their veins.

Gar's eyes flashed open, and he jolted to the side, but failed to completely avoid the Beast's attack, and was delivered a destructive slash across the back. Raven failed to notice this seeing how she had closed her eyes tightly as soon as the Beast had lunged. She felt Gar jolt to the side, and her eyes shot open.

Gar was heading off in an indiscernible direction due to the darkness that permeated their entire surroundings. He looked forward with complete and utter determination. The only fear he had right now was for his friends life, not his own. He ran until his muscles burned, and his heart pumped battery acid, and then he ran some more. He pushed himself beyond human limits, and then beyond the limits of half human, half animals, and he kept pushing himself.

Finally, after what seemed and eternity, a door came into sight. He couldn't help but laugh a little. It was just so comical to see a regular green wooden door standing in the middle of nothingness. And then he heard it, the Beast, and it was right behind him. He tossed Raven forward and gasped, "Open the door! I'll be right there!"

Raven tumbled on the strangely hard nothingness, and got up to her feet shakily, brushing away the pain that shook her knees. She went to the door, and reached for the handle, gripping it, and turning only to find that it would not move. It was locked. She looked around frantically, wondering what she would do now, and then she saw it, the welcome mat. Leave to Garfield to hide the key to the door out of his mind under a welcome mat. She lifted it up and pulled out the large green key, placing it in the handle and turning it.

She turned the handle, and the door swung open, revealing a solid wall of green light. She turned around to see Garfield frantically avoiding the Beast and yelled for him, "Gar, come on! Get away!"

Gar looked toward her, and barely managed to not get killed before heading off in a sprint toward her. He dove at her and tackled her forward through the doorway, and into the bright green light.

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Raven was knocked away from the sitting Garfield hard, and Gar was sent tumbling head over heels. Raven looked up at the heavily breathing Garfield, and smiled, "Well, we got out of there alive."

He looked up, his face paler than usual, "Yeah barely."

Raven rose to her feet shakily, and winced as she felt the bruises and sores that had formed protesting loudly. Gar had a little more trouble getting up, and when Raven looked past him to where he had been laying, she was a small pool of blood, and when he turned to go inside, she saw that the back of his suit was soaked in a dark liquid.

"Gar, wait!" he turned as she yelled, and she reached out to him, "You're hurt."

He caught her wrist in his hand and looked down into her shining violet eyes, "Save your energy, you need to heal yourself, besides, it's only a flesh wound."

"Gar this is serious, now let me heal you."

He grabbed both of her wrists, and pinned them to her sides, bringing his face close to hers, "Rae, I said no, I really don't need it, you need to heal yourself."

"Fine, if your going to be stubborn about it." With that, Raven closed the small distance between the two of them, and pressed her lips firmly against his. The shock caused his grip to falter, and grasped his head between her hands. The healing waves of energy traveled through Gar's body, and spread to Raven's through their locked lips. The healing finished, but neither let of the other. Gar wrapped his arms around her waist, and drew her closer to him, but his eyes shot open as he realized what was happening.

He pulled away quickly, and gasped for air breathlessly, "We shouldn't have done that."

Raven looked just as mortified as he, and nodded her head in consent, "Yeah, in fact, I'm pretty sure it was just the effects of surviving a traumatizing moment."

"Yeah."

"Raven walked slowly toward the stairs and to her room, her head no longer clear of confusing thoughts, but completely jumbled. One thing was for sure, things in the Tower were about to get just a tad more awkward.

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Healing scene adapted from comics, and I don't own Monty Python.

Nor do I own the Titans, just most of this story's plot. This is the only disclaimer you get, cause I won't ever own 'em.

-ToR

He He


	4. Chapter 4: Absolutely Shocking

BT Chapter 4 is here boys and girls, let's spend our money to go see a movie where the characters personality changes within seconds, and scenes that wouldn't be allowed in soap operas are dragged on forever. Let's have a poorly explained space blob attack, assist, and then attack our favorite hero. Oh and how about the main villains can team up within seconds, never for a minute distrusting each other. Aaaaand, the main character needs to get a Hitler-style haircut, and suddenly be a ladies man, and then an…anti-ladies-man. Fuck Spider Man 3, it really let me down… a lot.

Well, now that I'm done venting about that poor excuse for crap, let's get started.

Oh and Rabula, if it makes you feel better, I guess I just changed the Beast into bloodthirsty for effect.

-ToR

Just because of my anger, I included a sort of cameo for a notorious crony from Spider-Man. If you name him, I'll give a tasty cookie, StreetPoet know what I be talking about.

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For hours she had been awake, thinking. The two of them had venture into Garfield's mindscape only to be confronted with a bloodthirsty and incredibly angry Beast. Gar had picked her up, and run like hell, and they had only barely made it out of that alive. This however was not the issue that dominated her thoughts; her dominant train of thought was something a little more…physical.

He hadn't wanted her to heal him, _'Why didn't I just let him be?'_ she asked herself. Raven had persisted, pressing him to let her heal him, each time he turned her down, telling her she needed to heal herself. She had known better though, the gash in his back was serious, and he might have died. All she had suffered were a few bumps and bruises, not even countable as real injury. Raven pressed, and continued to push him, she reached out to him, but he had grabbed her hands, stopping the contact. Then she had done something that she would never be able to forget, she had kissed him. _'Why, why, why, why, why?' _Though, she didn't really want to forget it.

He had told her that they shouldn't have kissed, she said it was just post trauma taking effect, he had agreed. Neither thought it was true, though Raven was desperately trying to make it so. The pillow under her head exploded resulting in a massive explosion of feathers and cloth. Raven's head hit her bed as the support was suddenly gone, and she just closed her eyes, frustrated. _'Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos…' _the mantra was recited over and over again in her head, her emotions were completely out of control, and she couldn't have that.

Denying her feelings could end up being even worse that actually experiencing them, as _Wicked Scary_ had shown the entire team. But she didn't know what the problem was; she had already admitted to herself that she liked Gar and that she probably felt something beyond like. Was she denying herself the enjoyment of the kiss, or was it just that he set her on fire. He confused her, he annoyed her, he was smart underneath it all, and she couldn't help but like him. She sighed and turned restlessly in her bed, men were much too confusing.

----------------------------------)

Restless, he lay on the large bed that had replaced his formerly owned bunk beds, head on his pillow staring out his window into the star filled night sky. His mind moved quickly from one subject to another in desperate attempt to avoid more pressing matters. He remembered all too vividly how he and Raven had entered his mind in search of the problem he was having, or more pointedly, the Beast. They had searched through the black nothingness, and then they had found his magic happy place. But it was in disarray.

Only a few moments had they been there when the Beast came out of Nowheresville and right into their midst. He could tell Raven was trying to use her powers, but he didn't think that she could in this world, and his thoughts proved right. Thinking quickly, and with his instinct, or as usual, he rushed forward, scooped up the dark empath and ran for both their lives.

Gar vaguely remember the Beast landing a hit on him, he remembered it being in the back. The pain had been there, but the adrenaline pumping through his systems had pushed that to the back of his consciousness. He had only been hit because he had stopped so soon, but that changed, and he took off for where the door to his mindscape was. He had seen, thrown Raven, and then turned to face the Beast. Barely had he avoided the attacks, and then he heard Raven's call, he barreled them through the door and into the relative safety of reality.

He had refused the healing, but the pain had been immense, and he didn't know why he had. Strangely Raven had pressed on, usually she respected someone's wishes, but that had not been the case. Finally he had had to grab her wrists and stop them from reaching him and healing. And then she had done, she had lurched forward and kissed him, he had been so shocked he had let go, and she grasped his head, healing him almost fitfully. The healing was over quickly, but the kiss lasted longer. Finally he had pulled away, he had been adamant about the kiss being wrong, and now he didn't know why.

Raven had laid all the blame on post traumatic stress, and logically, since she was so smart, he had agreed, though her face had been flushed red, and her voice quaky. She had left quickly, leaving Gar on the roof bemused beyond reason. He had tried figuring out why she had kissed him, and why he had kissed back, thought that wasn't a big deal, she was, after all, really hot. He tried not to think about her that way, sure that she would read his mind, and rip hit head off, or send him to a dimension full of fleas and ringworm.

Sleep had evaded him for the majority of the five nights that had come and were still leaving between now and the kiss, his thoughts to restless to let him find peace in slumber. _'This sucks,'_ he thought as he turned over and closed his eyes, hoping for the umpteenth time that the next time he rolled over to look at his clock it would be noon. It wasn't.

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The hissing and beating of a steady stream of water came from the shower head on the other side of the curtain, and Gar brushed the it aside to allow himself passage. Not checking the water before he entered, he jumped in and was met with an ice cold blast of liquid. A staccato yell escaped from his mouth, and he rushed his hands to grab the faucet and turn up the heat. For a few moments, he stood in the shower twisting and turning in the small area trying vainly to avoid the freezing water. Finally the water settled on a comfortable warm, and Gar relaxed his body under the steady stream.

Realizing that he was not going to get any sleep that night he had rousted himself out of the warm covers at around 5:00 in the morning, definitely not much fun. He had dragged himself through the halls half clothed finding that the only good thing going on was that he was no longer having fever dreams of the Beast. Not much, but you know, when life gives you lemons.

It took him only a few minutes to clean himself off under the warm water, but he lingered in the comfy heat for a few extra minutes. His green hand felt lazily for the handle and turned it, cutting off the stream of water, and pulling himself through the curtain. A quick hardy towel dry and a wrapping around his waist, and Gar moved out of the bathroom and into the hall once more. He held on to the towel, making sure it didn't slip off of his waist. It took him only about half a minute to reach his room, and he pulled on his uniform, adding a pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt with a wall pattern on it.

The common room was, as expected, completely devoid of anyone except for the green changeling. The fridge door opened with the familiar popping of the seal, and the cool blast of air hit him in the face. A small plastic section was marked clear "Robin", and Gar reached for it, pulling it open and extracting a can of the energy drinks that he always drank. The metal tab cracked into the top, allowing Gar access to the tart citrus liquid contained inside. He sighed as the cool liquid poured down his throat, with the promise of an eventual burst of energy.

He glanced over at the clock, 5:26, he hadn't even been up for a half an hour, and he already felt like falling over. And then the alarm went off, the flashing red and the blaring horn, and Gar hung his head low, this was going to suck. It took about fifteen minutes for the others to enter the common room, all looking as groggy as Gar. Gar drained the rest of the drink and sighed, speaking up, "Who is it?"

Robin pressed a button on the keyboard in front of him, and the large screen popped up, revealing the outside of a bank with a massive smoking hole. "Okay, so it's a big hole in a bank, what else is new?" Gar said sleepily. A man emerged from the hole in a full black bodysuit, only broken by yellow eye holes, and a lightning fork on his chest. Gar's eyes widened slightly, "That's new."

Nightwing stood up from the console and signaled to the door, "Titans Go!"

-------------------------)

The R-Cycle and the T-Car cruised down the streets, accompanied by a flying alien, a soaring empath, and a pterodactyl straight out of the past. A sure sign to any Jump City commoner that the Titans were out and about to take care of trouble.

The black suited man walked down the sidewalk casually, holding a bag filled with money in each hand. Changeling spotted him first, and transformed into a peregrine falcon, diving at the man at an incredible speed. A few feet away from him, he changed into a Tyrannosaurus and smashed into the man still going at least a hundred miles per hour.

The green dinosaur let out as near a grin as he could, but he only managed to bare his razor sharp teeth. Suddenly a blast lit up the surrounding are, and the creature was sent flying into the air. Changeling transformed into himself and landed nimbly on all fours, staring at the small crater in which his enemy had until recently been squashed. The black garbed man climbed out of the pit, and looked around at his opponents, no emotion leaking through the mask.

Cyborg shot a burst of sonic cannon at him, but he raised his hand and a flash of electricity dissipated the blast. Before a normal person would've had time to recover, Nightwing charged in with his staff, swing it viciously at the thief. The man dropped his bags and managed to barley avoid the staff, even getting cracked in the arm or leg a few times. Finally, he slid to the side, and grabbed the staff, sending a stream of electricity up the metal and into Nightwing. The leader of the Titans was sent flying back, steam rising from his barely moving form.

The villain looked at his handiwork proudly, but was distracted for too long, and didn't notice the green discs of energy soaring toward him. The green energy smashed directly into him, and knocked him into the air, where he was met with a hammer of dark energy that threw him into the ground. Cyborg and Changeling ran toward him after Starfire and Raven's onslaught, but had to dodge a stream of erratic electricity as it came at them. Changeling recovered from his rolling dodge and managed to gasp, "Who is this guy?"

The man emerged from the cloud a smoke around his point of impact, and they saw his mask tighten in a smile, "Call me Sparx." And with that he unleashed another barrage of energy at the two males. They both dodged out of the way, but were instantly met with the threat of yet another bolt of energy. Starfire swooped in, her hand covered in green energy, and made a flying punch in his direction, but he grabbed her fist, and cancelled the energy with some of his own. The electricity continued to flow through the poor alien until she dropped to her knees, smoke rising from her skin. This time, the thief would not be distracted by his small victory, and he was ready to dodge when the gorillas mauling fists came hurtling at him.

A massive fist flung at his head, but he ducked under it, only to see another coming for an uppercut. He dodged to the side, but the fist coming from below stopped short of its predicted point, and linked with the other fist. They both swooped sideways, and caught Sparx square in the side, sending him flying into a nearby wall. Cyborg slapped the large ape on the back and yelled, "Booyah, Go BB!"

The gorilla changed back into his normal self and looked at Cyborg, "Cy, it's not Beast Boy anymore."

"Yeah, I know, but it just fits you, and I've always called you BB."

The green changeling shrugged, and walked toward the hole in the wall formed by Sparx. Raven landed beside him, and her fist covered in black energy brought forth the limp form of the villain they had been fighting. She brought him toward the three of them, completely encased in black energy. Changeling watched him suspiciously as he floated toward them, making sure he didn't make a move. Cyborg was relaxed, "Well beside Star and N man over there, I'd say that wasn't so bad." Raven nodded her head in agreement, and that's when it happened.

Glowing yellow eyes snapped open, and a burst of energy from the villain shattered the black encasement. He flew on the backlash of his blast, and shot a bolt of energy toward Cyborg, short circuiting him instantly. The blast headed for Changeling went askew, and Changeling was rolling anyway. Sparx came down right in front of Raven, and grabbed hold of her, sending a burst of electricity through her small frame.

The electricity stopped, but still he held on to Raven, who was breathing heavily from the pain. Those glowing yellow eyes fastened on Changeling and his muffled voice came from behind the mask. "Go get me my bags, and don't do anything else, or I swear to God I'll kill 'er."

"What if I don't want to?" Changeling asked. And his answer was given as a short burst of electricity tore through Raven. She let out a scream of pain as the energy ripped through her, but as soon as it was over, she hung her head limply, and began breathing even more harshly than before. Getting the gist of it, Changeling jogged to where the bags of money had been dropped, and ran back, but kept them firmly in his grip.

"Okay boy, now all ya hafta do is bring 'em here, and you get your little girl back."

Changeling shook his head, "Let her go first, then you get your money."

Sparx shook his head, "I don't think you fully un'erstan' that gravity of this situation. Right now, I have the hostage, I make the demands, now give me the money."

"How do I know you won't just take the money and keep her for ransom?"

Sparx raised one of his hands, "Thief's honor."

"Bullshit."

Another stream of energy tore through Raven, but this time she didn't scream, her eyes and mouth were closed in unconsciousness. "Now, you got five seconds to give me the money, or I finish her off."

"Let her go."

A sharp chain of electricity shook a petite body.

"Five."

"I said, let her go."

Her small body convulsed sharply as the energy tore through her.

"Four."

"Just let her go."

Once more the energy ripped through her from his hands

"Three."

Gar could feel something in him rising. His heart beat faster, his claws and talons seemed to grow and fluctuate, and he felt his muscles enlarging.

"Two."

Only a roar tore through the dust street of Jump City.

"Holy shit."

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OMGWTF, what could be going on?

Don't guess though oh and I swear if you don't leave a review, I'll be forced to hunt you down, and…Well you see what I need is a lamp shade, a thick paper back book, Tabasco sauce, a plastic bag, and an Ethernet cord. Oh, I promise you won't like it, just imagine what I could with all that

Can you see it, oh the screaming would be beautiful.

"Your screams are music to my audio receptors." General Grievous

-ToR


	5. Chapter 5: Beastly Tendencies

Chapter five, and the action continues!

I don't think I'll update until I get at least five reviews, which shouldn't be a problem, since I already got like 50 something. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see that many reviews for this story. And Rabula, how could you? I was so pumped for Ch. 12, and you fooled me. I was shocked and let my jaw hang loose. Bastard.

-ToR

And for all who guessed, I was shooting for a combo of Electro and Shocker for Sparx, for everyone who guessed one or both, you get a cookie. Injected with…dun dun dun…STRYCH NINE!!!

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic depictions of gruesome violence, and other sickening things. I would not recommend it for the weak of heart and stomach.

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The winds whipped through the now barren streets of Jump City, picking up a piece of paper and carrying it down a block before it glided into an alley. The same wind breezed through other streets, picking up small clouds of dust as it went. This wind whipped high above the streets on the rooftops of Jump City, ruffling a long green layer of fur, and tossing a long green mane back and forth. Feral slashes of eyes darted around the area, searching for the prey. The hunt had begun not ten minutes ago, and its quarry was proving strangely elusive.

The wind offered a cool relieving breeze to a man in a black and yellow who was breathing in harsh terrified gasps. Beneath the yellow patches of eye holes his eyes whipped from side to side while he prayed that the monster had finally given up the chase. His pilfered sacks of currency long forgotten on his frantic route of escape, he had no prize to show for his efforts, was dearly hoping that he would be able to fight again, and maybe, be able to steal once more as well.

He came out onto one of the many wide streets of downtown Jump City, and looked around for the predator hunting him madly. Sparx breathed a relieved sigh when no sign of the hunter was evident, and began off down the street and a jog, believing that finally he was free from the enraged man, now animal.

Feral black eyes stopped as they caught on the sight of a strangely garbed man, and he let out a content purr. Taking off from his rooftop perch, he loped along the rooftops, leaping the gaps betwixt them easily. The prey was easily found and caught up to, but proved difficult to battle once he had been. This being harnessed energies and was able to release them at the cost of great pain to the hunter, and it was driven not to feel that pain again. The man was not something it would usually hunt, he was not easy prey, nor was he weak, but it found itself being pushed by some instinctual reasoning to kill.

Heavy, muscled feet padded softly against the hard cement rooftops as he strode above the man on all fours. The man stopped once more to look around, trying to find its pursuer, and it was the perfect opportunity to attack. The Beast leapt from the building, it fell the few stories to the bottom with its claws raised above its head. But, by some miracle, the man looked up just as it was coming down, and letting out a startled yell, rolled out of the way.

The swing of the claws missed flesh, but left deep gashes in the sidewalk pavement, tearing up the rocky substance and shooting a large dust cloud into the air. Sparx back away from the cloud of debris and gathered energy into small orbs around his fists, preparing to unleash a full blast on the beast as soon as it appeared from the smoky cover.

A green blur shot like a bullet from the dusty interior, leaving a hole in the wall of debris, and coming straight at the man. Sparx raised his fists, and let the energy fly. The Beast was in mid air, and was unable to change direction, and the energy took it head on. The streams of energy shot into the Beast, surrounding it a white haze of energy, before blasting back in the other direction. Another hole, right above the first was formed, as the Beast shot back into the cloud of dust and into the building behind it.

It took only a minute or two for the renewed debris cloud to settle to the ground, but Sparx took his time in going over to the hole in the building. Cautiously, he took slow, shuffling steps to the hole, gathering more energy around fisted hands. He looked into the dark interior of the building, and arched his neck in an effort to find the Beast that had created the hole. Almost glowing eyes shot open in the darkness and a green flash leapt from the hole, knocking the man back off his feet, and shooting the gathered energy up into the sky uselessly.

Sparx smashed into the hard street, rolling and bouncing across the tar before he came to rest leaning against the opposite curb. Looking up dazedly, he saw the Beast coming toward him on all four paws, and growling predatorily. And then it flashed forward, smashing its head into the downed Sparx, and sending him flying into a building, but not with enough force to smash through the wall.

Sparx let out a pained gasp as he it the wall and felt a few ribs and some other things crack from the blow. He bounced off the brick wall, and fell to the ground where he lay in a heap, arms and legs sprawled around. Fighting the urge to just stay down and die, he struggled to his feet, and looked around to see no sign of the Beast. His quick spurt of happiness was ended abruptly when, he felt something long and jagged smash into his side, and send him flying down the street once more.

Warmth spread from the point of impact, and he felt liquid blossoming on his side, and traveling over his body. He looked down at the wound, his vision blurry, to see four long gashes, and the suit around them dark and wet. The rips in his suit were filled with a seeping red liquid that was coming out of him far to fast to be good. He knew that if he didn't get medical attention soon, he would die.

Sharp claws tore through the neck of his suit and lifted him off his feet so that he was eye to eye with his enemy. Fury-filled, feral eyes stared pure animalistic hatred at Sparx, and Sparx managed a wry grin beneath his mask. _'Well, at least it wasn't the AIDS.'_ The Beasts arm moved back and shot forward, long claws burying themselves in the villain's stomach. Warmth spread once more from the new wounds, and his already blurred vision was blacking and fading even quicker than it had been before.

The pain began to fade, euphoria taking its place as Sparx slipped further and further, _'This isn't so bad.'_ Sparx faded out of life without a sound, his body already drowning in a pool of his own blood.

Hunger drove the Beast's thought process, hunger and revenge for harms not to itself, and reasons it could not decipher. Though as it thought about it, it was sure its weaker self could have figured it out easily. A mental jab interrupted its calm at this, but the obtrusion was quickly shaken off and the Beast resumed fulfilling its driving motive.

It stalked toward the unmoving, blood-soaked, corpse on the sidewalk, eyes watching with keen interest for any sign of movement, and its nose flaring in the air, searching for a scent of life. All that it could smell was death and blood. It reached the object of its desire, and long claws extended from padded toes to their full lengths, razor sharp edges angling toward the meal. Claws tore into the midsection of the dead prey, and a heavy muzzle dove into the warm red interior of its meal, coming out with various innards dangling from its mouth and sharp fangs.

Raising its long head skyward, it let the meat fall down its throat as it snapped at the fresh food with rows of dagger-like teeth. As soon as the impromptu meal was down its large gullet, claws and teeth dove back to the source of the food with disgusting vigor. Predatory instinct took over the young man's mind completely, and he was unable to control his demon.

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Right Foot: Operable, Status-74

Lower Right Leg: Operable, Status-63

Upper Right Leg: Inoperable, Status-47

Numbers and letters scrolled across the vision of his closed left eye, as he rebooted himself, and did a systems check. His upper right leg was totaled which made the rest of it useless, but he had extras back at the Tower, so that would be an easy replacement. Slowly but surely he checked all his body parts, and his central systems, and was glad to see that the majority of his body and thought was still running well enough. His right eye blinked open, absorbing the light from the sun slowly, and leaving his vision slightly blurry. His left eye flashed open with suddenness, and was immediately alert.

Cyborg pushed himself shakily to his one sturdy foot, and extended a metal crutch from one of his arms to help him walk. He moved over to Starfire who was thankfully close by. The young alien girl was already stirring in her unconscious state, and Cyborg smiled. He was glad that the inhuman resilience and strength was able to protect her from being to seriously injured or useless. Cords extended lazily from his fingertips, and attached themselves to her temples, before sending a small electric charge running through her systems. Immediately the Tamaranean was alert and floating above the hard pavement.

"Friend Cyborg, have we won the battle for the bagged currency?" the young alien asked. All Cyborg did was respond with an unsure shrug before walking over to Nightwing's still form.

A small scanning device popped out from his shoulder, and went over both of his eyes, scanning Nightwing's body for injuries. Cyborg grimaced, he was definitely the most grievously wounded, and he turned to Starfire, "Hey Star, carry Boy Blunder here back to the Tower, I'll clean things up here."

"Yes my bio-mechanical friend, I shall do that," Starfire said as she nodded vigorously.

Cyborg shook his head at the young woman's incredible enthusiasm. He hobbled over to Raven, using the makeshift crutch heavily as he did. Not wanting to anger the easily startled empath, he gently nudged her with the long metal pole that was his crutch, and watched as she stirred uncomfortably. Another nudge, and her eyes began to flutter open lazily, bright violet orbs, taking in the sudden bright light.

"Cy-Cyborg, what happened?" Raven asked quietly as she rose to her feet.

"Raven, I think we lost."

Raven nodded, and the memories of recent events came flooding back to her. Sparx, the villain, had gotten a hold on her, and had continued shocking her, threatening Changeling with her life. The last thing she remembered was seeing Changeling seemingly getting bigger, which reminded her of something that should not have slipped her mind.

"Hey Cyborg? Where's Changeling? And where's Sparx?"

The part metal man looked around confusedly and then back to her, "I don't know, ya think we should look for 'em?"

Raven nodded her head and took her communicator off her belt, and pressed a button to call Starfire. The screen flashed to a white blankness, and after a few terribly annoying rings, it focused into a background of blue sky and clouds, almost completely hidden by a certain Tamaraneans head. Starfire smiled and spoke into the communicator, "Hello friend Raven!" Her voice was cheery, but she took on a more serious expression when she saw Raven's demeanor, "Is something amiss friend?"

Raven nodded, "Yes, Changeling's not here, and the man we were fighting is gone as well."

"We must find them; I will head back-…" She was cut off by Raven.

"That's okay Starfire, you see to Nightwing, Cyborg and I will search for them." 

"As you wish friend, good luck."

Raven pushed a button, and the screen blacked out with a small horizontal slash before that too disappeared. She placed the yellow disc back on her belt before signaling to her robotic friend, "Let's go." A disc of black energy formed under the tall half-man, and he was lifted into the air, following after the flying form of Raven that soared up into the sky. She stopped a good 300 feet above the cities skyline, and allowed black energy to flow all around her.

Cyborg let out a small whimper and peered tentatively down between his legs and through the transparent black energy. Being this high up was nowhere near being in his comfort zone, especially when he was this high up and not in some aviary machine. He stood stock still and straight as an arrow, hoping to the high heavens that a strong gust would not knock him off his precarious perch of psychic power.

Raven let her energy surround her, and her senses extend over the entire city. As soon as her stretched out thoughts reached the point where they would envelop Jump City, she let them descend upon the thoughts and minds of the citizens. Raven's thoughts raced through mind after mind, one though pattern after another, until she found him. He was distressed, he wasn't in control. She could feel the primal instincts like rushing torrent through his primary though systems, while his subconscious was filled with the worried and angry yells of her friend. She tried to communicate with him, but found that the Beast's control was like a thick glass wall on his mind, and she could only observe.

She came out of her trance-like state, and turned to Cyborg who was standing completely still on her thick disc of black energy. "Cyborg, I found him." The metal man nodded and sighed relieved before he was whisked away at high speeds, the only thing keeping him in the air, Raven's disc of energy.

The flying duo sped through the air before they saw a massive hulking green Beast on the edge of the road, almost on the sidewalk. It was huddling over something, and it turned its muzzle to the sky and something fell down its mouth and into its throat. Raven felt a sense of dread settle over her shoulders as she approached hoping against all odds that it wasn't what she believed it to be.

She landed across the street from the bent over form of the Beast, and let Cyborg down a little ways off to her right. He stumbled off the disc of black energy and looked at the Beast in astonishment. "I-I thought that we got rid of that thing after the whole Trigon shpeel, why the hell is it back?" Cyborg's voice was incredulous, and his shocked face just added to the picture.

Raven readied black energy on her hands, and stepped toward the Beast while explaining, "The Beast is a part of his existence, part of his sub-consciousness. His almost like a split personality. It consists of all his animalistic primal instincts, killing, eating, and defending its territory. And it feeds off negative emotions like anger. For example, when he becomes angry, and he lets all of it build up, after awhile he might unleash it more violently than usual. Most people would just call it bottling it up, but Changeling has it to an incredible extreme."

Cyborg nodded confusedly, only half getting the explanation she had offered. "And how do you know this?" he asked.

"I went inside his mind with him."

"Does he know about this?"

"Not yet."

The Beast had been listening to the noises behind him for quite some time now, and decided to finish his meal before turning around. As soon as he did, he revealed the sight to the two humans he now faced. The female, a sudden leap is other self when he saw her was quickly quelled, looked wide eyed at the torn up corpse, and the black power around her fists vanished instantly, a light post nearby snapping in half and sailing into the sky. The man that smell of the factories and metal looked at the corpse and released along stream of stomach acid enriched, half digested, food material.

The Beast looked back at the seemingly gruesome sight. The man's entire stomach and chest area had been torn open, and the ribcage had been broken off in several places to allow easy access to the innards. The muscle, or meat, was stripped off almost every bone, but there were still some haggard strips remaining that hung on by a few sinewy cords. Bones were crunched and broken, some sticking upward, glistening white in the sun, while others were soaked in the crimson blood of its prey.

The strange smelling male was standing back up straight, and wiping a hand across his mouth. He stood up straight and stared at the hunter, but kept his eyes averted from the scene of slaughter behind him. The woman shook her head, supposedly to clear her thoughts, and the blackness once again encased her hands. The two opposing it were now ready, and it could smell the regret they had. It was tensed, and ready to attack, that was until, the woman began to talk, "Changeling, Garfield, I know you're in there, c'mon, fight it hard, give it all you've got, because I would really appreciate it if I didn't have to go in there myself. Not only could it mess up your mind, but it would be really strenuous."

The presence in the back of its mind that had been nudging softly against its consciousness now seemed to increase its efforts. The small pebble in its sandal now turned into the blade that drove into its side. The Beast tried to suppress the thoughts that bashed against its mind, but it would not be deterred, and the Beast was losing ground. Half focused vision caught the woman raising a hand and it becoming covered in black energy. The presence, human sentient was now nearing the halfway point, and black energy slammed into it with the seeming force of a hammer. The Beast however, was not thrown off its feet, but all the ground it had was lost in an instant.

Raven watched the Beast recoil slightly as her mind probe smashed into it, and she reached her soul self into it. Her search did not take long, and she located Garfield's thoughts quickly enough. She reached out with herself and latched on to him, pulling him forward in the bodies thought processes, to the primary functions. She pulled out in time to see the Beast drop to its knees and roar in agony. The roar continued to ring through the streets, eventually turning into a loud yell as the Beast turned back into the green Titan they all knew so well.

Changeling was on hands and knees in the middle of the street, gasping desperately for breath. He looked up at his two friends, his eyes asking for what had happened, but at the same time, they were filled with knowledge of what he had become. Garfield saw Ravens eyes dart somewhere behind, and he couldn't help but turn around to see what had drawn her vision. His eyes caught the gruesome scene, and remained latched on the gory corpse, blood and innards strewn around a bone spiked body.

Garfield suddenly felt the warm, wet, stickiness that covered the area around his mouth and dripped off his chin. He suddenly tasted the bitter coppery taste that filled every crevice of his mouth, and he heaved, once, twice. His meals came up and out for five minutes, unable to bring the reflex under control. He felt a small, cool hand rest on his back among the tatters of his uniform, but it did not stop the regurgitation.

He finished the "session" with a bout of coughing, and turned to the small dark woman trying to reassure him. He looked up with forlorn eyes of worry and doubt, and spoke in a haggard, scratchy voice, "Raven, what happens now?"

The empath gripped his large hand with two of hers, trying to stop his intense emotions from tearing away her control and spoke softly, "I don't Garfield, I don't know."

Soft tears tore from the man's throat as she finished her sentence. The energy encased her hands, her eyes glowed an intense white light, and she picked up her two friends and herself, and teleported them back to their "T" shaped haven. Things were going to get a little rough for the Titans from here on out.

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Well, I think that might be one of the best chapters that I've ever written, and I hope that whoever reads this leaves a review, but it took quite a while to finish this chapter. And I also hope that if you do review, it can be something more insightful than…

"OMG, I love you cool story, lol. UPTADE"

If you can't give anything more than that though, I will gladly accept. Leave a review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and will enjoy the remainder of the story.

-Until I write another chapter for your reading pastimes.

-ToR

-The Awesome

-DC-44

P.S Jehosaphet's a faggot.

P.P.S. I know the AIDS thing was terrible, so don't get on me because of it.


	6. Chapter 6: Aftermath

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Chapter 6: Aftermath

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"_In response to the recent attack on Mark Grisham, or known to many of the law enforcement agencies as Sparx, the local police force has said nothing. The late Grisham's family has said that they will be pressing charges, and local attorney's say that the charges would have been put forth by others if the family had not."_ The news anchor told the story with a grim expression, and was just about to start talking again when a voice sound from somewhere in the room.

"Change the channel."

The half metal man holding the remote controller complied and flipped the channel. A woman stood in the middle of the screen a mike pressed to her lips, and a frantic expression plastered on her face. _"Changeling, our town hero, or the new menace? Few were there to witness the brutal attack he launched on the thief and villain Sparx, but they all said that it was without mistake, the formerly friendly hero. The local police force say that the family has asked the male hero to be detained, but they have been denied access to the sentinel Tower in the middle of Jump City Bay. This leads this reporter to think that maybe the Titans have something more…"_

"Turn the goddamned thing off," a man with long black hair and crystal blue eyes said from one end of the couch. The half robot sighed and pressed the power button, the screen going black with a bright horizontal slash. The man who had given the order leaned forward with a sigh and buried his face in his hands. "Vic, this is not going to be easy to get rid of, if we even can. The people want to take him in for murder, and they have every right, I can't stave them off forever."

Victor placed a hand on his friends shoulder, "I know man, but we need to figure out what's going on with gar before we let them do anything. I know it was that Beast thing that came up last time with Adonis and then during the Trigon thing, but we can't just say that it was an uncontrollable animal, that would make things even worse."

"I know Vic, I know."

Kori watched her husband and her friend talk from across the room where she was finishing up her breakfast of waffles and mustard. The current situation with Gar had put the entire Titan's group in turmoil, and not just the five gathered in Jump City, but the entire group around the world. Skeptics were now emerging from their dank, dark, little corners of existence to offer critical opinions of the use and danger of the Titans. People were protesting the continuations of the Titans, and they were beginning to win over the politicians. It was strange how something like this could stir up so much international trouble in only a week.

The main double doors swooshed open, admitting a cloaked empath, who glided across the room noiselessly before reaching into a cupboard and taking down a box of teabags. Without a word she went through the steps of preparing the tea almost mechanically, ignoring her friends, and paying attention to nothing but the task at hand. Her eyes were empty and hollow, sunken back into their sockets, giving her features a more gaunt appearance. Seeing the once innocent Garfield do something like that, despite that he was not himself had scarred her more than the others of the team. It took a few minutes for the tea to ding and whistle, but finally it did. As before, she poured, steeped, and sweetened the tea without a sound, and promptly left the living area.

During the entire silent preparation, her teammates could only stare on with sadness at her current state. They attempt not to speak to her, for previous attempts had ended in words of scorn and ridicule, and often times and angry outburst that sent half the Tower into shambles. Raven had drawn back into her dark seclusion of so long ago, and could not be coaxed out of it no matter how hard her three friends tried.

Raven walked down the halls of the Tower, the only sound that soft pad of her footsteps on the soft carpet. She passed her friends room and finally her own before heading down the hall that would lead her to the roof and to quiet seclusion that she craved so much of as of late. On her way down the hall, she passed the room where they were keeping Gar. The window was of the size that she not would be able to fit her head through it, and behind it, a staircase lead diagonally toward the center of large room where a clear container held Gar, bound and muzzled with the strongest of metals. The cell, though clear was made of a hard plastic composite that was virtually impregnable.

He lay in the middle of the containment cell, on the bed they had provided for him. The cuffs on his hands covered the entire hand, a cylindrical device that extended from rings that went around his wrist and made his claws completely useless. Nightwing had suggested the idea so as to assure the police that he was being well contained. Gar had agreed almost instantly, not wanting his actions to cause his companions any more trouble than they already had. She watched as he turned over and stared at the wall opposite the door and laid there, his side rising up and down softly.

Raven's hand reached tentatively for the coded pad to the side of the door, but she pulled it away, and continued on her way to the roof. The door opened smoothly as she turned the knob, the only door in the entire Tower that didn't open automatically, which was strange since it was a major exit in case of emergency, not exactly the best planning. She moved toward the edge of the Tower roof, and sat on the ground with her legs crossed in the lotus position, placing the tea cup on the ground next to her. Black energy spread out from her body like a cloud, and she lifted slowly off the cement beneath her.

The teacup lifted into the air, the black energy containing it drawing it closer to the floating form of Raven. It levitated with her, directly next to her lips, and she blew on it in an attempt to cool the hot drink. The aroma of the tea drifted up from its container, soothing her and allowing her to drift deeper into the meditative state. The black energy tipped the porcelain to her lips, and the steaming liquid flowed smoothly into her mouth, its warmth spreading through her body and falling down her throat. She sighed contentedly. It was moments like this, the peace that could be found among the maelstrom of chaos that made life worth liv-

"Raven." The teacup shattered with a loud crash as the harsh commanding tone of their leader shocked the empath out of her meditation. Her face and chest were splashed with that hot liquid and she gasped as it burned her skin. The energy around her disappeared, and she dropped to the ground landing in an unceremonious heap on the cement. "Sorry for disturbing your meditation, but I need to ask you something."

Raven seethed as she rose from her seat on the hard cement and turned to their illustrious leader. "Dick, you should know by now that I don't like being disturbed when I meditate."

"And like I said, I'm sorry, but I need you do something for me." Dick stayed stiff the entire time, only a hint of embarrassment appearing on his cheeks as Raven admonished him for his actions.

Raven sighed, "Fine, what is it?"

"Gar, his…problem…I want to know if you can go into his mind and try to help him with it," his face was dead serious, but his tone held and undercurrent of worry for his currently quasi-incarcerated friend.

Raven looked at her friend and sighed again, "Dick, I would, but we already tried that. It didn't work out to well, to say the least."

"You already tried? When?"

"We tried the day before we fought Sparx, and barely got out, I don't want to know what it's like in there now."

Dick was shocked and his voice showed it, "You knew about that thing being in his head and you didn't tell anyone? I can believe he wouldn't, but you, Raven?"

"Look Dick, he didn't want to even tell me, I wasn't about to break his trust."

Dick raked a hand through his hair, "You do know how much trouble it would have saved us if you would have told us, don't you?"

"I do now." A silence fell over the rooftop, to two Titans standing across from each other, both staring down at the cement floor. Neither wanting to speak, and both trying to avoid the gaze of the other.

Finally Dick spoke up, "Raven, just get inside his head again. If you don't, and we can't help him, we'll have to give up to the police, and the law is going to tear him apart. After he's gone, there's nothing I can do for him."

Raven was silent for a few seconds before looking up, "Fine, but if anything happens to me or him, I'm coming after you."

Dick nodded, "Thank you."

Raven brushed past him and went through the door to the Tower which Dick had left open, leaving the Boy Wonder to stand on the roof with the early morning sun blasting light in his face. After while of thoughtful silence, he turned slowly on his heel and followed the reclusive empath into the Tower. Leaving the rooftop empty except for the broken shards of a tea cup and a small patch of wet darkness that had been inside the cup.

He walked down the hallway the led to the roof, passing Raven standing at the door to Gar's containment cell apprehensively. Her hand hovered over the pad of numbers that would accept the number sequence that allowed access to the room. Dick reached around her and punched in the correct sequence of seven numbers, and the door slid open. Raven however, remained standing just outside the room, unwilling to take the next steps into the room. Dick gave her a little nudge and she stumbled forward slightly, finally able to move into the cell. The door slid shut behind her, and Dick walked off, hoping it would all go well.

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Gar sat on the cot in the middle of the cell so generously provided for him. He leaned forward, back hunched, his elbows resting on his thighs, and his cuffed hands between spread knees. His gaze was blank, his face empty of expression, a deathly gaze. Blurred memories flashed across his mind, filling him with regret and sorrow. Blinking, his vision flashed black for a second, and suddenly his hands were claws, and they were embedded in a faceless body.

The bitter coppery taste of blood that he had become so friendly with filled his mouth, the violent tastes, smells, memories torturing him. A shake of the head to try and rid himself of the awful memories did nothing. Falling asleep was too frightful a thought. Gar was afraid that if he fell asleep, if he let himself lose concentration and control for only a little while that the Beast would be back. He would wake up a monster, ready to destroy and kill anything. No sound registered with the distraught man, nothing entered his mind, he was dead. Not even the door to his cell sliding open entered his mind. Acute animal; senses picked up the noise, the movement, the smell, but he didn't react.

A small cool hand rested on his bare shoulder, and soft voice spoke, etched with concern. He didn't move, only thought, only controlled. The Beast would never stop coming, he could never let up on his demeanor. The voice echoed through his head again, the worry still there, but this time filled with the urgent worry that tried to get his attention. Something waved in front of his vision, he didn't pay attention though, his concentration had been forced inward where the Beast lay.

_CRACK!_

The smarting pain was instant, a stinging sensation spreading from his cheek. His concentration broke and he looked up to see who his assailant was. Raven stood over him, rubbing her hand and smirking as he lay on the floor. And then it registered, she had slapped him. He tried to yell at her indignantly, but found that he couldn't due to the muzzle that covered his mouth and lower half of his face. All that he managed to get out from between his lips and through the muzzle was a strangled mumble of jumbled noises and grunts. Raven snorted in amusement, and reached down to unlatch the muzzle, but he pulled his head away. Black energy surrounded the straps that held the muzzle in place, and released them.

"Raven, what are you doing? That's supposed to stay on at all times!" he said frantically, he was worried that having it off would get someone in trouble.

"Relax Gar," it wasn't a request.

He was about to mouth off a few more reasons for her not to be near him, or messing with the constraints, but her tone and her words shut him up. Gar looked up at her again, and spoke, "So, what's up Rae?"

"Raven. And Dick asked me to come in here and see if I could do anything for you," she said, the correction for her name almost automatically uttered. The other part of her statement put a confused questioning look on the changeling's face.

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted me to go into your mind and see what I could do."

Gar still looked confused, "Didn't we already try that?"

"Yes, but he didn't know that, and I think that we should try it just to be safe."

"No."

She looked shocked at his forceful opposition to the prospect, "What? Why?"

Gar shook his head, "Rae, I can't let you go in there right now. The Beast, it's stronger than it ever has been, I don't if I can control much longer. I can't let you get hurt especially if I'm the one hurting you. If you go in there, the Beast, it'll tear you to pieces; it's already started on me."

Raven felt emotions in her head jump at his protectiveness, but she quickly regained her calm expression, "Gar, this is the only chance we have for you. If we can't stop it, the police will have to take you in. There'll be a trial, but you won't have a chance, and then you'll spend the rest of your life in a cell at STAR Laboratories. Garfield, none of us want that to happen, I need to try something."

Gar let out a derisive laugh, "Really like those worst case scenarios doncha Rae."

"Gar, there's nothing else we can do-…"

"No!" Her uncharacteristic pleading was cut off as he shouted. "Rae, I'm not gonna let you in there. If you get hurt in there, I don't want you to get hurt, much less if I'm the one hurting you, and what if it kills you. What if you die, in my head?"

"Gar, I'll be fine, this is kind of my thing. Beside it won't be you, it'll be the Beast. After we finish it off, we can all go back to living normal lives," she laughed at herself inwardly as she finished talking, normal lives. She was broken out of her thoughts by the low laugh that echoed around the cell. Gar was still sitting in front of her, but he was rocking back and forth, a low pealing laughter trumpeting from between his lips.

He looked at her, his face suddenly serious, "You don't get it, do ya? The Beast is as much me as I am. I'd expect you of all people to understand something like this. What with you being a half-demon. This thing is, all of my base instincts and emotions, kill, lust, anger, protect…it's me. If you destroy the Beast, I don't know what'll happen."

She was dumbfounded at his revelation, but he wasn't done yet, "If you in there now, when it's so out of control, I don't know if I'll be able to stop it. Rae I don't want you to get hurt."

Raven was up and off the cot, moving toward the sitting Gar. She placed her hand once again on his shoulder, "Gar, I'll be fine; you just have to let me in."

He sighed, "Rae, I don't want…"

"Gar, just let me, it'll be okay. We have to do something."

He lowered his shoulders and his head, Raven placed her hands on the sides of his head, and black energy surrounded them both.

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Well there ya go.

R&R

Random question: How old do ya think I am?

-ToR


	7. Chapter 7: Psychomania

WARNING: The following statement is Awesome.

Hello my faithful readers, before I begin the long awaited seventh installment, there are a few things I wish to impart upon you. First off, I have just received undeniable proof that one of my theories, is true. Yes, yes, I have just proved beyond doubt, that I am indeed Awesome. There are some of you out there who may be wondering, why is that capitalized? For in truth, many people use the word awesome, but none in the context that I am.

For simple use of the word awesome in mundane conversation, for instance, describing something as being awesome. "Man that movie was awesome!" The people who say these things do not realize that the awesome of which they speak, is not really Awesome at all. A long time ago, I and another of my friends, StreetPoetJehosaphet thought that Awesome was too much for mere mortals to handle, so we simplified to awesome. It was after this event that we began to seriously ponder, since we indeed gave the word a simpler meaning, if in fact, we were the epitome of Awesome. And just recently we have discovered that in fact, we are this epitome, this orgasmic sensation of incredible awesometastic, amazingosity…Awesome.

I can not impart upon you the evidence that we uncovered, for I am merciful, and wish for you all to retain your sanity. And from this point on, I would wish that when referring to me, you would say, instead of Toran, The awesome. Notice the non-capitalization, this is only there to show that I am indeed knowledgeable, and realize that if any of you attempted to use the Awesome to its full extent. Your brain and innards would melt, and make a slow journey downward and out your anus, to muddle in great puddle of incredibly grotesque goop. So now that you have all been inducted into the few not ignorant of this incredible revelation, I will impart to you the incredible chapter that you have all been pining for.

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Chapter 7: Psychomania

Pounding. Blood pounding through his ears, through his chest. His heart beating, pumping over and over again. Viciously attacking his ribcage in an attempt to free itself. The blood pounding in his ears, pulsing through his veins, it blocked out everything. The man standing in front of him, holding _her_, hurting _her_, he wouldn't take _her_ from him. No sound reached him, only the blood pumping, and the rage building.

And the animal.

The animal in its cage. Once quieter, but never dormant. Now thrashing and scraping and roaring for release. For this man, the one hurting _her_, he would let it out, for this man, he would release himself, let go. He did.

The cage was thrown open, the Beast was released from its bonds, and he could feel it drawing him back and away from consciousness, and then blackness. The Beast had taken control, but for now, he did not care. The Beast would protect _her_, and the Beast, would kill _him._

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Narrowed eyes saw the prey, flaring nostrils smelt the prey, smelt the perspiration, the cloth it was wearing, and the fear. Oh the fear. A delicious more enticing scent the Beast had never found, and it lavished in its sweetness. The fear was overpowering the man, and he dropped _her_, the only one worthy of the Beast. It was king, it was power.

Dropped _her_, and ran. He ran like so many others had, in an attempt to escape the horrors that surely awaited him at the hands of the Beast, the terrible, painful fate that was sure to come if he stayed. But this did not bother the Beast, he liked the chase. Adrenaline pumping through its blood, the scent of the prey wavering and sharpening, and finally the end, at which the Beast would find and kill its prey, for it would happen, no matter how long or far its prey ran, the Beast always won in the end.

And so it began, the metal and stone forest that surrounded the two providing cover that the prey would surely need if this chase were to last long at all, and as soon as the man had disappeared, the Beast set off. Ascending, loving the feeling of his claws as they punctured the structures and carried it upward toward the sky, relishing in the feeling of the wind rushing by as it leaped from place to place, taking only seconds to retain the scent, and redirect itself, but most of all, loving the smell of fear pouring off the prey.

There were others, easier prey, but they were sparse, and revenge drove the Beast to kill him. And then the adrenaline pumped faster, the scent sharpened to incredible levels, and finally, the Beast saw his prey, and he knew the end was near. The Beast knew too, it always knew, the Beast always won.

The Beast leapt, lunged at the prey, pounced, but surprisingly, he was ready. Something smashed into the Beast, something strong and fast that drove the Beast through one of the tall structures, and sent jolts of pain through the Beasts muscles. It convulsed on the hard uncomfortable ground, muscles twitching and sending pain through the Beast's body, numbing the Beast's thoughts.

The dirt and debris rose in front of it, obscuring its vision, and screening him away from the prey. This didn't bother the Beast, he could smell the prey, feel the movements. He was jittery, nervous, he had a good reason. The Beast brought his twitching, convulsing muscles back under his control, and beat down the pain, pushing it to the back of its minds. It ignored everything but the prey on the other side of the dust, preparing to launch itself for the kill.

The dust settled, and the Beast waited. Waited for the naivety of the prey, his stupidity would his downfall. And sure enough, the prey came closer, peering into the pitch black of the building, not noticing the Beast. Muscles in its hind legs coiled and tightened, preparing for the attack. The urge came. The Beast lunged forward at the unsuspecting prey, almost too quickly for the eye to follow. Something shot from the man's hands, blasting upward into the clear blue sky. The Beast didn't care though, the prey was near.

The prey rolled and bounced to the other side of the hard path that they were battling on. He looked up, and the Beast began to prowl around him predatorily, feeling its victory coming close. It charged forward and rammed the man with its head sending him into another structure. He smashed into the thing, a satisfactory crunch accompanying the impact. A sharp hiss of hair escaped from the man, it was the Beast was sure was pain.

The Beast moved to the side, waiting until the prey was no longer stunned to strike. The prey got up with obvious struggle and looked around not able to see the Beast. Elation crept into the prey's scent. Time to change that. Viciously sharp claws lashed out and tore into the man's side, sending him bouncing and rolling down the path, leaving splashes of blood in his wake.

The Beast walked to the downed and defeated man, and wrapped a paw around his throat, lifting him clear of the ground. Normally the Beast would have just torn him to pieces with his teeth. But he had no need for innards to burst and send their insides over the rest of the good meat. Precision was better in its current situation. Positioning claws at places where they would inflict minimal damage to important innards, but would still deliver a fatal blow. The Beast plunged the claws in and out with lightning speed. The prey fell dead, the feast began.

Delicious red meat tore from the body and it gulped the meat down hungrily, eager to complete its vengeance in the most complete way possible. Wet blood dripped from the fresh meat, streaming down the Beast's muzzle, splattering over its face, drying and caking over in the dry heat. It rent the meat, swallowing and chewing, feasting, and if at all possible, smiling. It was awhile before two more showed up, but to the Beast's surprise, one of them was _her_. This was quite a dilemma.

-----------------------

Darkness. The cold unforgiving darkness. It was everywhere, surrounding him, trapping him and silencing him. It was suffocating. The deep, cold blackness choked him and rendered him helpless. He didn't know how long he lay there, aware that the Beast was doing its work, but unable to do anything.

Powerful emotions would occasionally penetrate the omnipresent blackness, but only for fractions of seconds, and none of them made him feel better. Pleasure, sadistic joy, eagerness, it only served to deepen the void. The darkness that now seemed to be building up to cut him off from his body forever. He didn't even try to close the gap, to bridge the abyss, to reach himself, for there was no use. The darkness would only swallow him. It would continue to render him unable of anything, to destroy him.

Suddenly, something pierced the darkness. A shock, a surprise so sharp and sudden that it brought him to full awareness. The darkness was there, and he realized despairingly that it would keep him away from whatever had happened.

Time elapsed, he never could tell how much, and then, something broke through the darkness again. It wasn't bright, but it was strong, and warm. A comfort you never felt in the darkness. It called to him, and he looked up to see what it was. Before anything was discernible, he was gripped forcefully and carried through the darkness, across the abyss, back to himself, back to consciousness.

He stumbled and fell over. Back again in his body, conscious once more. The darkness that had smothered him so completely was no longer there, he was free again. But he felt that a price had come with the freedom. Something didn't feel right. Something was terribly, terribly wrong, with him, and with the situation, the world. He looked up to see Cyborg, and _her_. His eyes caught hers for but a second, and then suddenly they darted to a point behind him. Afraid of what had drawn her attention, he turned tentatively toward the scene behind him.

A bloody mess. Pearl white bones sticking up from the innards, the red liquid pooling in great amounts around the center. He could barely pick up that the mess was a mangled corpse, and suddenly the drying, caked matter around his mouth made sense. The stickiness around his mouth, the coppery taste filling his mouth, the fullness of his stomach. He retched, once twice, and it came up.

_Oh God, how could I-_retch-_I should have been able to stop it, it's all my fault-_retch-_This…terrible-_splat. _I ate-_splat-_Oh fuck, Sparx, oh…-_splat-_This, how could I-_retch

A small, cool hand, _her _hand. It rested on his back among the tattered cloth of his uniform. It was, reassuring. But it did not stop the horrible feeling that filled him. He had eaten someone else, not _something_ else, but _someone,_ a human, another sentient being. He did not know how long it came up, only that when it ended, _her_ hand was still there, resting against his back. Turning his head toward _her_, he choked what seemed the first words he had spoken in years, "Raven, what happens now?"

"I don't know Garfield, I don't know." The tears came.

----------------------------

Caged. Caged like an animal. Trapped like the animal that still prowled inside him. He wouldn't let that out again, at least, not on purpose. His hands shook as he held his head in them, staring through his fingers at the monotonous gray floor. The cot he sat on hard an uncomfortable, nothing more than exactly what he deserved. The feel the taste, it was still there.

He could feel the dried and caked blood still plastered on his face, feel the wet stickiness in his mouth, and taste the copper. No matter what he did it was always there, it kept his thoughts occupied during the day, and haunted his dreams at night. Food was tasteless and stale, drink seemed contaminated. Life was just, empty.

He didn't really know how long he had been in the cage, but he would stay down here as long as he needed to. Or, as long as they wanted him to. This whole thing, the investigation, the suits, all of the things happening, it was all his fault. If only he hadn't given in, if only he hadn't…The thoughts were too detailed, he rushed to the trash can in the corner, bending over and heaving into it. Only, he forgot that he had to wear a muzzle. Thankfully Cyborg was making his rounds and checked in on him, day one, down.

A week, it must've been that long by now, and he was still trapped in the dull colors and atmosphere of his cage. Muzzled and bound. He didn't fall asleep anymore, it was too much of a risk, the Beast might take over again, and it only need a bare few seconds. He now rested bound hands between his knees, afraid that he might scar himself if he lost control for only a little while. Nothing entered his mind, his mind was a page filled completely with disgust, remorse, and more than a little anxiety. Muffled noises and feelings, a voice, maybe a touch, but none of it mattered right now, it was just-

_CRACK!_

-Something fast and hard smashed into the side of his face and sent him sprawling on to the floor. A stinging sensation erupted on his cheek, and the skin felt raw and red. He looked up and saw Raven, it was _her. _Why in the hell was she standing there, and why the fuck did she slap him! He tried to yell at her, but once again, he forgot that he was wearing a muzzle, and the device muffled his voice. She snorted at his predicament, and he her hand reached out, severing the bonds of his muzzle.

He had a panic attack. "Raven what are you doing?! That supposed to stay on at all times!" Filled with fear at what might happen if someone found out that _she_ had taken it off. Something bad could happen.

"Relax, Gar." He was shocked, she didn't seem to care that it was against the current regulations. He would have kept on talking, but her voice had carried more demand that request. So instead of launching into a series of complaints, he tried to find out what was happening.

"So what's up Rae?" Of course, she corrected his usage of her nickname. And began to explain that Dick had asked her to help him. Confused, he questioned the sort of help that she would be giving. She explained the entering of his mind, and the second attempt to trap the Beast. He questioned her again, wondering why they would try this again when the last time had given such…unexpected consequences. She pressed her case, trying to get him to let her in.

Now he was angry. She wouldn't go in, he wouldn't let her, not when the Beast was in their. Granted, the Beast was caged, but only with the strongest mental barriers he could muster, like paper to the Beast's strength. She kept coming at him, persuading him to let her in, giving her reasons. Finally after several long minutes of heated discussion he gave in, sat down on the cot, and waited. She stood in front of him, and placed her small hands on wither side of his head. He looked up to see a small smiled twitching her rosy red lips. Heat flushed in his face, and then, everything went black.

--------------------------------------------------

So, no plot advancement, but lots of people told me to get inside Gar's head, so decided to do that, hope you all liked it.

Sorry, it's a bit short.

-ToR


	8. Chapter 8: Parting of the Sensory

So, here I am, after months…sorry 'bout that, I kind of went on a well, junior year y'know, hell. So. Much. Work. Chemistry and English papers, U.S. History seven pages it's just…GAH! WOW! GEEZ! WOAH! OH MY! GOLLY GEE WILLICKERS! HOLY $#!7! SWEET JESUS! F\/CK

Well, Chapter 8…. Here we go.

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Chapter 8: Parting of the Sensory

Here he was again, thought broiling and bubbling inside him, or was it around him. He couldn't tell, but then again, it didn't really matter, did it? All that mattered was the fact that he was once again inside his own head, with the same girl as before, and big surprise, almost the same goal. The intrusive thoughts, the killing, the _lusts_, the…hunger, all of the primitive instincts stemming from the being that everyone understood almost as little as they did him. Especially her, he could let everyone else in, but not her, not again. And yet, she was the only one that he could let in, the only one he could ever get close to. Maybe that's why they were here again, in the Beast's lair.

The area around them was a smoky dull gray, and a soft mist played around their knees, at times almost hiding one another from view. He kept with her though, as she pushed through the mist. He felt almost as if it was holding him back, pulling him away from her. Suddenly, something in the depths of the mist caught his eye. A black shadow passed by him, and went on to pass between him and Raven. Feelings and thoughts hit him like a wall, emanating from the shadow. It passed by again, and he found himself engulfed in darkness.

"_You think you're alone, but you're not."_

_Warmth spread through his body, as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. At first, he couldn't comprehend what was happening. Raven, was hugging him…hugging him. Thoughts finally connected, and he moved his arms around her waist, pulling her tighter to him. And then…_

Garfield stumbled forward, back in the mysterious mist, and he fell to his hands and knees. His thoughts seemed muddled, and he couldn't make out what was going on. After a few seconds, he managed to stagger to his feet. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he needed to tell Raven. Raven…she was gone! He spun around, searching for her frantically in the thick gray mist, eyes darting to and fro, searching for any sign of life beside him in the emptiness. Gar tried to call her name, but no sound came out, his mouth moved, but something muted him. So he moved.

His body was numb, and he staggered through the mist, still looking out for any sign of movement. A chill swept over him, and he saw another shadow coming toward him. He staggered away, trying to escape, but it was to no avail. The insubstantial body smashed into him like icy daggers, and memories welled up in his head, sending him into another dream, and sprawling him once more on the ground. This time though, he couldn't get up, his muscles just wouldn't respond. Another shadow pass over him, the chill set deep into his bone, and a spasm shot up hi back.

_The street was dark as mist swirled around him, a flash of lightning illuminating the pavement for a second. The rain fell hard and fast, pounding into his aching body like hammers. It was supposed to be a routine. Thugs steal from bank, heroes take them down, simple. The thing was, nobody can routinely stop a bullet, not even a half-animal meta-human. _

_His breathing was shallow, his lungs burned as he strained to get air in them. His side burned hot where the lead round had entered, and his back burned the same where it had exited. He could feel the blood pouring into his organs, the red liquid pooling on the ground under his limp body. Dully, Changeling heard rhythmic thumps coming toward him, accompanied by the splashing of water. The thumps stopped and he saw a foot in front of his face. "Oh Azar…"_

_Rae…She would save him, lift him out of this hell. His Rae…his Raven…The darkness around his vision began to close in, and the screams and chanting grew gradually farther away. And then, nothingness._

Nothing but the gray dull mists again. He knew he wouldn't be able to walk, or stand, so he reached out one hand, extending claws, and dragged himself forward. Hand over hand, he moved, sliding on the smooth dark surface of his tormented mindscape. Finally, the mist broke, and he could see. The place was ghostly hell. Jagged mountains shot up from the Earth, fires raging in and around them, a stream of magma pouring down a few, and lightning flashing threateningly behind them.

The sky was, however impractical it seemed, torn. The cloudy gray was interrupted by jagged rips of pure black, through which poured those ghastly shadows that had preyed on him in the mist. He could see far around him, shadows flowing close to him, but never passing out of the gray mist. Finally escaped from the mist, he felt strength and warmth returning to his body, and was able to stagger to his feet and stand. He looked around, hoping that there would be a sign of whether or not Raven was here. And then, far off in the distance, Gar saw a small purple figure moving toward the treacherous landscape.

'_Aw…Fuck me.'_

Gathering strength, he turned into a horse, starting off at a breakneck pace toward the small figure.

--------……--------

The mist had been behind her for quite some time now, and the unconscious thought that she needed to get to those jagged mountains filled her. The rents in the sky above her still set her off when she looked at them, and had to quickly avert her eyes. Suddenly, a great rush of air started up from nowhere, and the sky was filled with a terrible noise. A blackness appeared in the sky, and started to stretch and split the sky further, leaving a dark another dark hole in the sky. The stream of black started out of it like the others, but this one seemed to not spray every which way, but focus itself into a small stream. Raven couldn't tell why it was doing so, or why it was moving so slowly.

Ignoring the stream of what she had guessed was concentrated thought, she continued on her way to the mountains. After another minute of walking across the uneven and treacherous surface, she glanced back up at the stream of black and saw that it was heading for point somewhere close behind her, and every now and then, it would adjust its course. She looked back to see a green horse galloping across the land, leaping gaps and jumping from rock to rock. And then she realized the stream of emotion was heading toward Garfield.

"Garfield!" Raven screamed at the green figure running toward her, jumping and pointing toward the blackness heading toward him. She didn't know if he heard her, or if he could even see her, but she continued in her efforts to warn him.

--------……--------

Garfield watched as Raven jumped up and down, and her shouts came to him as muffled whispers, growing gradually louder. As he neared the jumping figure, he could see that she was jumping and pointing at something in the sky. He focused his eye on the direction she was pointing, and saw a massive black shadow barreling toward him. One exactly like the shadows he had encountered in the mist. The dreaded chill past over him, and he increased his already incredible speed. But no matter how fast he pushed himself to go, the cold kept getting stronger, and the shadow kept getting closer.

--------……--------

Raven watched as he increased his pace, but she could already tell it didn't matter, the black stream was drawing closer, and was moving faster than ever before. She stopped her jumping and thought quickly. She could fly…if she could use her powers. '_Sweet Azar…'_She started running toward the green horse and the impending collision with the black energy.

The gap between the two heroes was closing much faster now that she moved toward him, and she thought she might reach him before the stream of shadows. The horse leapt another of the gaps, and Gar changed back into himself in the air, hitting the ground at a run. He ran toward Raven, stumbling as the cold set even deeper, and his muscles burned with effort. The shadows were almost close enough to touch when Raven leapt at him in a full out diving tackle. She collided with him, wrapping her arms around his chest, trying to push him out of the way, but the blackness smashed into her, filling her body with cold, and plunging her into an icy darkness.

--------……--------

_He was down at the rocky shore of Titans Tower Island, skipping rocks across the ocean and watched as the smashed into the breaking waves. Changing in to a gorilla, he picked up a larger rock and hurled it at the top of the water, watching as it skipped off the top of water, smashed into a wave and kept going out into the blue depths. He took in a deep, shaky breath, and let it out, holding back the tears that he could feel burning behind his eyes. _

_A rock bounced down into the near by water from above, and he looked up to see what was going on. And there she stood. The raven haired beauty, his friend, and his teammate. He shook other thoughts of her from his head, he couldn't think like that yet her memory was still too fresh. Her betrayal still stung too deeply. He looked up at her and smiled, battling away the tears, and motioned for her to sit next to him._

_Surprisingly, she did, making her way down the steep rocky slope, and sitting next to him on the large boulder that jutted out into the ocean. No words were said, he didn't need them, and he felt that she understood that. He felt something cold fall over his hand, and he looked down to see her small delicate hand on top of his, he looked up and gave her a sad smile. They sat like that for what seemed like hours, completely content in the others presence. Finally, she got up, and moved away, leaving him. A small hand gripped his shoulder, and he felt her hair tickling the back of his neck. Her breath played softly on his ear as she whispered, "You think you're alone, but you're not."_

_---------……--------_

_And with a flash, she was gone, the red and black fading from sight, and the monstrous red demon standing victorious over them all. He looked at the surrounding destruction in horror. She couldn't be gone, not now. He hadn't told he loved her yet._

_And yet, she was._

_---------……--------_

_Trigon was gone now; everything would be different, especially now that _she _was back. He still hadn't worked up the guts to tell her how he felt, but he figured with so much to look forward to, he had plenty of time. And as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, the setting sun outside playing against her face and the books white pages glinting brightly, he figured that he could at least get a few more good moments out of it._

_--------……--------_

_He sighed for what seemed the hundredth time that day. The situation wasn't unusual, or it wouldn't be if they had been a year or two younger. Yes, Gar Logan had once again succeeded in pissing her off. Raven stormed from the room, black energy removing the white tofu from her face and clothing. Gar wiped at his forehead, swiping the white substance from his face, a product of her anger._

_But, despite the sticky "food" all over his face, and the now extremely pissed empath leaving the room, he could only think of one thing. _'Damn she's beautiful when she's angry.'

_--------……--------_

Ravens head was filled with memories, memories that weren't her own, but those of one green changeling. The feelings were indescribable. It felt strange to have some of those feelings directed at herself; it made her feel almost…egotistical.

The dim light of Garfield's mind hit her eyes and forced her to blink them open. Her vision was blurry at first, but a few blinks cleared them easily. She lifted herself into a sitting position, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes just to be sure, and looked around disoriented. She wasn't in the same place as before, the impact of the shadow must have really done something to her. A strange nagging sense pulled her thoughts somewhere behind her, and she turned to see a prone Gar lying several yards away.

She got up and walked over to him, kneeling down next to him and shaking his shoulder gently, "Gar? Gar, wake up." The shaking not having the desired effect, she placed her other hand on his other shoulder, and shook him more violently, raising her voice, "C'mon you green dolt, wake up!" And still, he lay still.

"Oh for Azar's sake…" Raven pulled her hand back, and let it fly. A resounding smack filled the air followed by an angry yell, and that little nagging sense in the back of her head taking on a whole new stage of wakefulness. The shock from the sense…no, presence in the back of her head stunned her as the green man in front of her snapped into a sitting position, nursing his cheek.

---------……---------

Blackness. Pain. Light. In that order. First there was nothing, and then pain flamed on his cheek and he snapped to wakefulness, his mind buzzing with unasked questions. But more than that was a strange feeling, buried in the back of his head. As he thought about it, it seemed more and more intelligent. He pulled himself into a sitting position, still nursing the cheek that had been slapped, and stared at Raven as she sat in front of him, a dazed look on her face.

"Rae? Hellooooooooo... Look, I know I'm beautiful but, I think this is a little much," Gar joked, trying to get a reaction. "Hello…Is there anybody in there…Earth to Raven…" Nothing happened. And then, it happened. The presence in his head burst, or something, and seemed to flood his head with thought, and not his own thought mind you. It seemed so…familiar. The name was there, right on the tip of his tongue, but still, so far out of reach.

"Gar, did you feel anything right now?"

Dimly aware that he had been asked a question he nodded his head in response. A small pulse rippled from the presence and Raven's voice flitted into his consciousness again, "And there?" Once again he nodded.

"Rae, what's goin' on?"

There was silence for a few seconds and the presence pulsed a few more times before she answered, "I think-I think we're linked…"

"Linked? I don't get it."

Raven looked at the green changeling, "Our minds Gar, we have a mental link."

"Oh, so…that's you in the back of my head?"

"Yes."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

Silence reigned on the two for a few minutes as they sat there, thinking about what was going on. And suddenly, the memories trickled back into Gar's mind. Everything he had felt and remembered when the black bar had collided with Raven and him. And he wondered, wondered what she had seen, and felt. "Rae, when that, black…_thing _hit us…what happened, to you I mean?"

Raven looked down, her shoulder length hair falling over her face as she remembered what she had seen, and her face flushed with heat. The feelings that she had felt feelings that weren't hers, the things she had seen. She had seen, but she had been…better. In Garfield's memories she had seemed to possess almost a glow, she had seemed to be so much, pure. "I saw memories." Her answer was vague and she knew she wouldn't get by with just that with Gar.

"What do ya mean?"

"You, I was seeing things; with you…I was…you."

"Oh…"

And in the distance, a rock crumbled of a mountain rolling, tumbling, end over end, and then fell, fell into the blackness. And all around them existence itself seemed to be crumbling as an all too familiar feral scent drew ever nearer.

Green met purple and red bloomed on cheeks.

_--------_

**DING-DONG**_**…**__Nightwing rose from his position on the couch and went to answer the door, a confused look on his face. He stepped through the chrome doors and into the dull gray elevator. The mechanical device brought him to the ground floor as the door bell rang once again. Nightwing strode across the carpeted floor and pressed a pressure pad to allow the doors to open. Two men in black suits carrying briefcases moved in without even consulting him. _

_Nightwing spoke up as they barged in, "Hey! What are you-…?"_

_One of them held up a star shaped badge and spoke as they moved past him, "S.T.A.R. Labs Enforcement Agency, we're here for Garfield Logan."_

_R_e_**a**__l_i**t**_y_ c_**a**__m_e**c**_r_a_**s**__h_i**n**_g _d_**o**__w_n

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**Well, there ya go…**

**Review, and rejoice that I have returned**

Parting of the Sensory-Modest Mouse

"Well some day you will die somehow and  
Something's going to steal your carbon"


	9. Chapter 9: People As Places As People

Chapter 9 hath cometh forth. And all ye who hath forsaken its glory shall be torn asunder. All ye whom hath sullied its glorious title shall be thrown into the muck of the streets and your bodies befouled with hog urine. And then your soiled corpses shall recieveth a sturdy raping from a massive Sasquatch penis. Oh, and review.

WARNING: If bold and italics piss you off, suck it. You'll see.

WARNING: My awesomeness may cause temporary blindness, contraction of all known STDs, loss of fingers, disintegrating of toes, bleeding through the navel and ears and eventually death. But have no fear Danny's miracle pill can help…somewhat.

-ToR

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Chapter 9: People As Places As People

A soft wind picked on the edge of unreality, just beyond the borders of impenetrable darkness, and wound its way over the barren, rocky, mountainous landscape. The wind picked up speed, whipping up the dirt and tossing dust across the ground. It hissed through the close rocks creating a high pitched whistling sound. It ruffled wild fur and picked up the scent of a beast, carrying the feral, wild scent through the air, across the crumbling landscape, and toward a duo sitting among the failing consciousness.

A green nose twitched as the wind reached the pair, and an embarrassing stare was broken as he turned his nose up to get a better sniff. His eyes widened in surprise, and Gar jumped to his feet. "C'mon," he said extending his arm toward the sitting Raven, "we've got to get going, it's coming."

Raven looked up at him confused, "What's comin-…Oh"

"Yeah. Now let's go."

She reached out and he gripped her small hands in his, pulling her to her feet, and they both set off toward the vicious looking peaks. Raven spoke up after a few minutes of walking, "Where is it coming from?" 

Gar tipped his head, took a sniff, and nodded his head forward saying, "This way."

"And we're heading right toward it?"

Her only answer was an affirming nod.

"Why?"

"Well, I figure I have to defeat it eventually, and there's no sense in putting it off."

Raven shrugged her shoulders, "Oh."

A strange silence settled over the two once again as they continued the hard paced walk toward the foreboding mountains and the impending battle. The Gar in the back of Raven's head was sending out waves of emotion, and Raven had to make sure that the emotions didn't run over and overwhelm her. Finally she managed to blanket the small presence with energy, blocking much of the emotional energy surging from the green changeling.

Gar stopped walking as soon as she put the cover in place. He turned, asking, "Raven, did you just?..." He trailed off and let the question die, shaking his head and continuing on his way to the mountains. The scent of the Beast was growing stronger in leaps and bounds as the two parties moved toward each other. And finally, it was as if Gar could feel the creature in his mind, coming toward him, bounding across the vast, barren landscape toward him and Raven. He bared his teeth, and a low growl rumbled through his chest. The warmth of his hand fell away from Raven's, and the claws on his hands extended to their full length.

His pace quickened, and suddenly he was using all fours. Gar seemed to be becoming the Beast, but yet, he was still Gar. He still looked like Gar, but he was bigger, more animalistic in action and features. His nose and face seemed just a little bit longer, more like a snout. Once versatile hands now were more padded paws, and fur on the back of his neck rose as his growl deepened. And then, a green form came rocketing over a boulder about a hundred yards away. Gar began running on all fours toward the Beast, and the Beast met his speed. Raven watched as the seemingly insane game of chicken climbed to its climax.

Gar and the Beast leapt into the air and clashed, stopping in mid-air and falling to the hard, unforgiving ground below. They were a mass of slashing claws, gnashing teeth, and flying fur. Blood splattered on the rocky ground around the two beasts, and the melee intensified.

------…..------

Urges is the only way to describe it. He felt urges, and desires. And now as he clashed bloodily with his beastly counterpart, he could feel only the urge to kill, and the desire to protect. This Thing was him, but he was him too. And as the fight intensified he felt more it than he ever had. Like it was him and he was it, an interchangeable persona. The only reason he knew it was him and not this monster fueling the battle was the small awareness that glowed in the back of his mind, the one he couldn't seem to get enough of.

And then the Other came at him, snapping him from his reverie and forcing him back on to the field of battle. Slashing, biting, scratching, kicking, and then it stopped. His claws found a way through the onslaught of attacks and gouged through the Other's stomach. His claws came away and surprisingly they weren't caked in blood, but rather a drifting smoky essence was trailing off his claws. And far off as the essence dissolved, a mountain stopped crumbling, and a hole of nothing in the sky became the grisly gray of the surrounding atmosphere.

Garfield noticed nothing of the occurrence, being completely preoccupied with currently dissipating essence. That is, until he was thrown backward by a ferocious kick from the Other. Bouncing along the hard rocky ground he finally rolled to stop, coming to rest against a jagged rock that jutted from the earth.

He opened his eyes and found it hard to focus. His vision wavered, and his surroundings seemed to be almost swaying. Off to the side, a dark figure moved toward him, calling out something, maybe it was his name. Gar tried to motion for whoever it was to stop, but found his arm unable to move. He tried to cry out to them, signal the impending danger, but all that escaped his long muzzle was a low mew.

And then, a green blur smashed into the figure, carrying it away and pinning it to the ground with bone crushing force. Urges were all that he could feel. Urges, emotions, desires. Move. Rage. Kill.

--------

"What in the hell are you talking about?" the boy wonder practically screamed at the two sharply dressed men in his front hall who were waving their pretty little badges in his face and talking of apprehending Garfield for the protection of mankind and the further of scientific knowledge.

"Sir, we are here for the apprehension of Mr. Garfield Logan. His mental stability and the stability of his mutant genes have been brought into question."

The men tried to enter further into the massive "T", but once again were barred by the extended arm of Nightwing. "Look I don't really care who the hell you are, or what the hell you're thinking, but there's no way you're getting inside."

The lead man sighed and rubbed his eyes under the dark sunglasses that covered them. He looked up and spoke, "I didn't want it to come to this, but…" His hand darted and grabbed Nightwing by the wrist, whipping him into the wall, and leaving nice hole. "The Titans aren't the only metahumans you know."

The two stepped forward approaching the thick doors leading to the elevator and staircase. The first man stepped forward and pressed his hand to the pad, but all that happened was the red letters "ACCESS DENIED" flashing on the pad. His partner stepped forward, and as he came closer to the door, he shifted into a blue silver, almost liquid-like substance. He melted through the small cracks in the door easily. "We're in," he said from the other side as the doors hissed open.

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Paws pounded across the rocky surface of the landscape around him, kicking dust up into the dead air. There they were, the green, and his violet. Rage. A mighty roar tore from his throat, rending the deathly silence. Move. He leapt into the air, sailing at the Other. Kill. Serrated claws extended from his paws, seeking the warm blood of his opponent, wishing to tear apart his very essence. He collided with the Other carrying it away from _**her**_and tearing into its side. He felt the blood on his paws, could smell the stinging metal scent, but it wasn't there. Instead it was replaced with the drifting smoky essence passing him in the air, as if in slow motion.

A crevasse began to stop widening, magma stopped its constant flowing and the sky became one piece closer to being whole. And then, they hit the ground, and everything snapped back to normality. They were a rolling ball of fury and claws. The Other's claws were buried in his chest, and his jaw closed around the arm, snapping through bone and tearing the flesh, he passed through the appendage.

The Other reared away, growling as it tucked the torn appendage away. Essence was drifting off of each of them from countless injuries. The realm around them was changing so rapidly that it was hard to follow. A patch of grass and a flower sprouting only to be swallowed in a sporadic gout of flame. Volcanoes sealing up, only to have a patch of tress, just sprouting their blossoms rent apart by a showering of lightning.

Chaos reigned on Gar's mind as they fought and bled essence. But slowly, ever slowly the chaos was starting to lessen. Volcanoes were spewing magma again, the sky began once again to disintegrate, and the ground was once again being split like a puzzle. Gar found himself weak and hard of breathing. Blood pounded in his ears, and his breaths came heavy and rasping. The Other stood before him, the green blurry and the landscape spinning. And finally he fell.

He felt dull, the pain was going away. But, so was the presence. It was not his fading reality; the presence was becoming fuzzier, harder to reach out to, to touch. It was bleeding life, and it was fading from the back of his head. Gar's head lolled to one side and he saw her laying there motionless, a purple-blue mist drifting away from her body steadily. And suddenly he was alive again. She wouldn't die, and neither would he.

But still, he lay motionless. Weakly, he turned his muzzle upward to see the green hulking form, towering over him. Able to kill, but unmoving. He looked the Other straight in the face. Shock filled him. The eyes were the same. The face, the body, it was mirror. He looked straight at himself, and hated it.

Rage filled the Others face and he lashed out throwing Gar across the ground. Anger filled him and the Other charged raising his claws, but then, once again he saw the eyes- the ones that were the same. The face behind them, the emotion, the sadness. He hated himself for letting this all happen, to Raven, to his team, he would never forgive himself. He looked at the Other deeply as it towered over him, and stood. Looking straight into deep emerald pits of rage. A pool of peace. An ocean of sadness. His eyes, his emotions, him. He looked at the Other and he took a step forward thinking, _Crash into me…………_

A flash of green, a flash of red, an explosion of nothing encompassing everything. He was in the Other and on him and around him. He was in himself he was his paws, hands, mouth, eyes. He could see him, himself and everything. He watched each other as he merged with himself. Muzzles…faces, paws…hands, claws…fingers, he was himself. Images that were him and at the same not him flashed through his head.

The grass, _rock_ was soft, _hard_ and cold, _warm_ as he fell to his knees. The scents, _dust_ filled his nostrils, _mouth_ causing a smile, _cough._ Carefully, _suddenly_ he lifted his head, and looked_, stared_ off to his right, _left_ and he saw _**her**_. Slowly, _quickly_ he rose to his _f_e_e_t and w_a_l_k_e_d_ toward _**her**_. The grass, _dirt _fell under, _kicked up_ from his _s_t_e_p_s_ and he kept m_o_v_i_n_g_. _**She **_was still on the ground before, and he knelt, _crouched_ down beside _**her**_. He looked up to see a mirror image of himself on the other side. The eyes had the same intensity,_ calm_ the pupils however, and were mere slits, _orbs_ animalistic, _human_ in appearance. He looked at himself with a calm, _intense_ gaze, _stare_.

And he, _they_ _both_ reached toward her willing his essence to her. As her essence bled out, his own fell down his arm, spilling on to her still form and seeping into her wounds, sealing them. The emerald, _forest_ green trailed across her body, and her wounds were healed. _E_y_e_s…closed softly, snapped open.

---

The halls and rooms were quiet and eerily empty as two agents stepped through them. Their hard soled shoes made no noise on the carpeted floors, and they slid along the walls looking for Gar Logan. The slightest sound and they stopped, standing stock still in the shadows. A large metal man strode around the corner, presumably Codename: Cyborg. The second rushed forward, his arm melting into the liquid substance again, but retaining the shape of a fist.

Cyborg turned to see a man rushing at him, a metallic fist pulled back. Instinct would have kicked in if he had had time to react, but sadly, the metal fist smashed into him and through his central chest compartment tearing at some of his motor function controls. The half-robot fell to the ground, arms twitching and legs locked in the air. "Aw fuck you! What the hell do you want?!"

Without a word, the man stepped over him, his arm melting back into a normal shade, including the suit. Behind them, a Tamaranean floated by the hall to see her friend on the ground and two men standing over him. Letting out a yell of anger she charged at them in flight, starbolts at the ready on her hands. One disc of green flew from her hand but a man made of metal stopped its advance as the other stepped around him to catch the oncoming alien in the face with a fist, sending her flying back down the hall and through a wall at the other end.

The metal man, melted back into a normal human guise and turned to his partner, "This is taking too long."

The other flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles, nodding as he spoke, "Indeed." He pulled his fist back and smashed it into the wall, sending shockwaves down its length and causing it to erupt into the hallway, leaving a long path of destruction with open rooms on either side. Not seeing their intended target the two moved on, no longer being careful.

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Amethyst eyes snapped open, but quickly closed at the piercing light. Wondering how in the hell she was still alive Raven forced bleary, blurry eyes open, and looked to see herself half on grass, and where it abruptly ended the hard roughness of rocky earth. Her eyes were watery, and for a second she was seeing double. Garfield was on both sides of her, but as she blinked she felt a weight across her stomach and found him, instead of lying beside her, over her. Garfield. That was it. He had done something, saved her somehow. The Beast…was gone, and something was different.

Something, was much different. To say the least.

The earth was whole; a few yards to her right a patch of trees sprouted from the wet dewy grass, and to her left massive spires of rock erupted from the earth in beautiful swirling patterns, clawing at the now calm blue sky.

She raised herself into a sitting position, rolling Garfield so that he was lying across her lap, staring through closed eyes up at the sky. She leaned down next to him, placing her cheek over her mouth, and felt the soft breeze of his breath tickling her ear. Sighing with relief, she eased out from under the much larger man, and lay him down so that he was on the grass. Instantly he became blurry and seemed to be shaking back and forth over the ground, almost as if he was trying to be in two places at once. For a split second there was another Garfield a foot away on the hard earth, identical to the one on the grass, and then they snapped together, right on the middle of the line separating grass from rock.

Surprised, Raven reached out to the presence that gleamed softly in the back of her head. She took the mental shield off and felt the calm stream of emotions coming off of it, probably caused by the sleep. Raven stretched herself further and delved into the surface of his consciousness. She waded through surface emotions and thoughts. They were empty. Gar's unconsciousness was causing a mind blank. But here just as in its physical representation, something was different. He seemed at peace, whole. He was more himself than she had ever felt.

Delving deeper she strived to get him out of the trance he was entrapped in. She dug through layer after layer of thought, shocked at the depth of his psyche. If he was really this deep why was he always so shallow? And then she rammed into something. Brought out of her meditative state, she saw a purple bolt smash into the ground nearby, shocking the young changeling out of his sleep.

"Wuh!...Huh? Who?...wow…Oh, hey Rae." Startled by the assault of broken sentences, Raven could only give a small wave. Realizing that he was laying with his head in her lap, he sat up quickly. "Heh…sorry 'bout that Rae."

"Don't worry about it, but try not to be so awkward next time you're unconscious," Gar looked at her confusedly for a second before understanding and giving her a small smile.

"You got it Rae." Silence followed Garfield's comment stealing upon the two and shutting their mouths like iron traps. Both scrabbled internally for something to say about the events before the attack by the Beast. Gar took a deep breath and began to speak, but Raven beat him to it.

"Thank you."

Gar looked at her questioningly, "For what?"

"Everything…for saving my life, looking out for me, always being there…never giving up."

"Rae, it's nothing, friends look out for each other. Anyone of the team would have do-."

Raven shook her head and interrupted him, "No, no they wouldn't, not like you."

"That's just the way I am Rae, I…I just needed to get to know you, crack open that shell. Jokes and making a fool of myself didn't look like it was working, but I guess I was wrong."

"But, that's not the way you are, you're…so much more."

Gar pulled closer to the cloak-clad empath, "Rae, I…usually don't show it all, but I don't not show nothing. Laughter always seemed to help the hurt so, I did it more. The jokes are as much a mask as you being emotionless. Both aren't real."

Raven looked down, her face flushed red with embarrassment, "So…that memory, the one we both saw, and felt, was that, the surface you or the real you?"

She felt a strong rough hand cup her chin and turn her face upward into deep emerald pools, "Both."

Raven felt his lips cover hers, and she gave in to the fluttering feeling in her stomach, leaning into the kiss. After a few seconds his lips left hers, and she felt his hand encompass her own, "What do you say we get outta here?"

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Well, end o' chapter 9. I'm thinking just about two more and will be a done with this here story.

Big thanks to my new and improved and currently existent beta, the most supreme StreetPoetJehooooooosaphet! And in the other corner God. The STP pulls out la boom-stick and blows God's head off. MATCH OVER!

P.S. Hopefully that didn't offend you.

P.P.S. If that did offend you why don't you stop listening to me rant and get back to being ass raped by man's fear of the unknown.

BETA'D BY STP

P.P.S. If anyone was too confused in the chapter to understand what in the hell was going on just say so in the review and I'll fill you in as best I can. But just so you know, I'll think less of you.


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